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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The release of this Greatest Hits package along with various artists (Cheap Trick,The Knack,Teenage Fanclub,Bruce Springsteen) championing Raspberries as an influence prompted me to buy this CD.I listened to it once and put it to the back of my collection for another time.About a year later I dug it out and played it again...again... and again-I was hooked.Raspberries' music is perfect power pop,The Beatles,ELO and Beach Boys immediately spring to mind.The harmonies are tight and brilliant and Eric Carmen and Wally Bryson's lyrics are unashamedly about falling in love,this may be unadulterated,sugar-coated pop but it's brilliant,almost genius pop at that.Just listen to 'I Wanna Be With You' or 'I Reach For The Light' and float away on a sea of blissful harmonies as good as any Beach Boys material.'Drivin'Around' is the best song that Brian Wilson never wrote.These comparisons must not underestimate Raspberries' musical abilities however as all are gifted musicians in their own right.It's not just straighforward pop either-as proved on the magnificent 'Don't Want To Say Goodbye' or 'I Can Remember' with it's georgeous strings leading to a change in mood and tempo.After releasing four albums in the early 1970's of which 'Fresh' is probably the best,they split and went seperate ways(AOR radio listeners/sufferers will undoubtedly have heard Eric Carmen's smash hits 'All By Myself'-1976 and 'Hungry Eyes'-1987).
'Greatest' covers most of the material from their four albums and is an excellent introduction to the power pop of this Ohio fourpiece.
'Greatest' covers most of the material from their four albums and is an excellent introduction to the power pop of this Ohio fourpiece.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
14 reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
ACTUALLY REALLY SUPRISED
26 Jun 2005
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Over the years I've bought and re-bought Rasberries greatest hits collections. Hoping...for something different. A new mix?
I had no idea. On this collection which I bought for the same reasons, really knocked me out. Not only sounding excellent, it includes 6 more songs then the 1995 greatest hits. I love this band. Having their original 4 albums released for the first time on CD this year makes buying all of the other "Hits" albums worth it.
I had no idea. On this collection which I bought for the same reasons, really knocked me out. Not only sounding excellent, it includes 6 more songs then the 1995 greatest hits. I love this band. Having their original 4 albums released for the first time on CD this year makes buying all of the other "Hits" albums worth it.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
America's best Power Pop Band. Ever. Period.
18 Feb 2010
Format:Audio CD
In a short career that spanned barely 5 years and 4 albums, The Raspberries ran up a string of brilliant singles. Their goal was to reclaim the mantel of early Beatles and Who singles, while rejecting the overblown pomposity much of 70's prog rock had meandered into. They even wore matching suits and poofy hair on the first album cover, along with a scratch and sniff Raspberries sticker. The first hit from that album, "Go All The Way," roared out with loud, sweet guitars and Beach Boy harmony, setting up the future for the band.
Centered mainly on Eric Carmen's McCartney-esque voice and songwriting, The Rasperries began knocking out single marvels with the consistency of the best Badfinger hits. They used lyrical teases instead of blatant come-ons to make their songs cover more ground, like when Carmen chirps "Oh! I wanna be with you! So Baaaaaaad!" or the winsome want of "Let's Pretend." The band also were excellent mimics, with "Drivin' Around" a flawless Beach Boys concoction.
However, Carmen began to exert domination over the band and tension caused both Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti to split after Side 3. Regrouping led to the appropriately named Starting Over and Carmen's last single masterpiece with The Raspberries. With the plea for success that is the pocket symphony "Overnight Sensation," Carmen blended Brian Wilson's songwriting with Phil Spector production to create one of power pop's perfect four minutes. About midway into the single, Carmen and the band get sucked into a car radio and the tinny speaker cranks out the boys as they chant "want a hit record, yeah!" across the nation's airwaves. I can still occasionally get the goosebumps when I hear this song.
That bit of wishful thinking not withstanding, The Raspberries broke up soon after. Eric Carmen had a fairly successful solo career and Wally Bryson went on to join power pop maestros (and cult faves) Fotomaker. But for a brief and fiery moment, The Raspberries made the kid of guilty pleasure music you didn't have to feel guilty about.
Centered mainly on Eric Carmen's McCartney-esque voice and songwriting, The Rasperries began knocking out single marvels with the consistency of the best Badfinger hits. They used lyrical teases instead of blatant come-ons to make their songs cover more ground, like when Carmen chirps "Oh! I wanna be with you! So Baaaaaaad!" or the winsome want of "Let's Pretend." The band also were excellent mimics, with "Drivin' Around" a flawless Beach Boys concoction.
However, Carmen began to exert domination over the band and tension caused both Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti to split after Side 3. Regrouping led to the appropriately named Starting Over and Carmen's last single masterpiece with The Raspberries. With the plea for success that is the pocket symphony "Overnight Sensation," Carmen blended Brian Wilson's songwriting with Phil Spector production to create one of power pop's perfect four minutes. About midway into the single, Carmen and the band get sucked into a car radio and the tinny speaker cranks out the boys as they chant "want a hit record, yeah!" across the nation's airwaves. I can still occasionally get the goosebumps when I hear this song.
That bit of wishful thinking not withstanding, The Raspberries broke up soon after. Eric Carmen had a fairly successful solo career and Wally Bryson went on to join power pop maestros (and cult faves) Fotomaker. But for a brief and fiery moment, The Raspberries made the kid of guilty pleasure music you didn't have to feel guilty about.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Raspberries Still Fresh
20 Dec 2005
Format:Audio CD
Originally known as "The Choir", the "Raspberries" sounded like a cross between a Beach Boys tribute band and bubble gum pop. There were a couple of exceptions. One of the 70's best make out songs had to be "Go all the Way", self explanatory. "I Wanna be With You" had a catchy guitar riff at its beginning and a quick change chorus. "Overnight Sensation" has the "radio" intro. Most of the rest were solid little ditties but not overly memorable. This is a great little disc for the drive in, the highway, the drive way or the rec room. Its all pretty harmless fun, much like the 70's were to most of us back then.
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