The Look of Love - The Burt Bacharach Collection

Disappointingly however, some inferior covers have been included on this CD which nowhere near match the quality of the "popular" versions that we are familiar with. I'm thinking in particular of "Trains and Boats and Planes" - recorded by dozens of artists in the sixties - sung here by Anita Harris - pleasant enough but rather insipid - a number of better versions were recorded including the version by Billy J Kramer, also "Make it easy on yourself" here sung by Jackie Trent it doesn't hold a candle to the Walker Brothers version due mainly to a more powerful production and Scott Walkers (Engel) more satisfying baritone voice. While still on this note I can think of no reason why "This Guy's (girl's) in love with you" by Petula Clark is included in preference to Herb Albert's (and his Tijuana Brass) version - are there some sort of contractual or copyright difficulties here? Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the songs here are not the original cuts - some little quirky bits that you remember in a song are not quite there - maybe an earlier take from the recording session? but if so why? Plus, the title track "The look of love" by Dusty is definitely a different version to the one which appears on her "Silver Collection" CD (here - The look of love CD - it's over 1 minute longer and sounds completely different while trying to sound the same) however, that said, I prefer this one and whilst other tracks may or may not be the original cut released they are as close as damm it and will do nicely for me.

All in all there is a great collection of about 20 beautiful pop classics mixed with another 30 songs, which are either inferior covers of great songs or standard pop fayre. Excellent value for money but needs editing to be a truly classic collection.


Fantastic   August 6, 2001
7 out of 11 found this review helpful

This is fantastic, superb. I am too young ( 21 ) to remember when most of these songs came out, but I just love this collection and enjoy listening to it. It is very calming and nice to listen to before going to bed or when driving.


When he's good, he's very, very good...   July 6, 2001
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

... but when he's bad he can be embarrasing. Let's say straightaway that anyone interested in the development of modern popular music, or anyone who just enjoys a good tune, will enjoy this album. But, you'll have to have your finger poised near the 'skip' button.

On the plus side, pop music doesn't come much better than the contributions from Dionne Warwick, Aretha, Dusty etc. And, while Burt had a considerable fallow period from about 1970 onwards, his work with Elvis Costello proves he's still got it (whatever 'it' is).

On the minus side, there's Perry Como, Cilla Black and The Fifth Dimension, among others. Burt was on auto-pilot for these, and veered off into sugary kitsch (always a danger with his music). And I wonder whether he really wanted to record Alfie with our Cilla, because she murders the song. Burt, of course, is too much of a gentleman to criticise any of the artists he's worked with.

A final interesting thought - can you imagine ANY modern female singer agreeing to sing Wishin' and Hopin' - just listen to the lyrics. And no modern male singer could possibly sing Wives & Lovers without adding the 'I'm being ironic' disclaimer. How times have changed.


Does music get any better than this?   May 30, 2001
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

For a very long time I have loved this music and have collected quite a lot of it, but to see it all come together to celebrate the work of Burt Bacarach is really exciting. The tracks are well arranged and doen't fail to include all the best ones. A good buy for Burt fans but a better buy for those who have yet to discover these treasures.