Raspberries Preserved

Editorial Reviews
Stereo Review
"Excellent" --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Album Description
Tribute to the early 70's genius of Eric Carmen and the Raspberries-Cleveland's answer to the Beatles. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Tracks:

I'm a Rocker (The Rank Strangers)
Go All the Way (Tiny Lights)
I Reach For the Light (The Webstirs)
Overnight Sensation (The Hushdrops)
I Saw The Light (The Hang Ups)
Goin Nowhere Tonight (Bill Lloyd)
I Wanna Be With You (Alex Ballard and Sugarfoot)
Tonight (Off Broadway)
Let's Pretend (Brad Jones)
Play On (The Gladhands)
Last Dance (Swinger)
Nobody Knows (Scott McCarl)
Rose Coloured Glasses (The Rock Club)
Hands on You (Kevin Hickel)
Cry (Bunnygrunt)
Cruisin' Music (The Rubinoos)
Hard to Get Over A Heartbreak (The Swarays)
Might as Well (The Shambles)
Don't Want to Sat Goodbye (Flashcubes)
Waiting (Ken Sharp)
Hey Deanie (The Nicoteens)

Album Description

Tribute to the early 70's genius of Eric Carmen and the Raspberries-Cleveland's answer to the Beatles.

Customer Reviews:

Nice try but no cigar........2005-09-14

I love the Raspberries.I am a huge fan. There have been very good tribute albums done for other bands (Eagles, Buddy Holly etc.). The thought of some great bands and musicians who have been influenced by the Raspberries, doing Raspberries songs, sounds like a winner. The problem is that there is to much inconsistancy. Several great performances and a few really (REALLY!!) bad ones.
Lets take a look at some great ones.The Rubinoos "Crusin' Music", Rock Club's "Rose Colored Glasses" and and Off Broadway's "Tonight" are really powerful and show that these are artists who really are Raspberries influenced. Former Raspberries bass player/singer Scott McCarl (who replaced Dave Smalley after the third album) does a superb job on David Smalley's "Nobody Knows". It is both great and ironic. The best track on this CD (as far as I'm concerned) is Alex Ballard and Sugarfoot's "I Wanna Be With You". This rockabilly arrangement is so damn hot it makes the entire price of this CD worthwhile.
Most of the remaining tracks range from mediocre to downright awfull. Tiny Lights "Go All The Way" is terrible and reduces a powerhouse song to shlock and Brad Jones doesn't even bother to sing the correct lyrics on "Let's Pretend". The worst track by far is "Cry" by Bunnygrunt. This track sounds like a very bad garage band recorded in their garage on a cassette recorder. These paticular performances are not a tribute to the Raspberries. More effort should have been taken to get really good perforances from really good musicians. Still there are just enough great moments to recommend this Cd to real Raspberries fans.

the best.......2005-01-31

this album is out of sight. i wish i could find more just like it. way better than the originals. increases my appreciation of the raspberries who i already thought were better than the beatles. highly reccommended.

Ouch.......2004-08-27

The ones giving this one 5 stars must be starving for entertainment...All I can say is... as soon as I got my copy from a seller on Ebay, I listened to it once and then planned immediately to re-list to see if I could unload it on someone else... Just listen to the Raspberries originals and please don't subject yourself to this one!

2nd Rate Lounge Acts Spoil Classics.......2001-12-19

I've been a closet Raspberries for some 20 odd years now, so while tributes are always a hit and miss, I thought I'd give this one a shot. Can you say - Disappointed! The vocals on Let's Pretend and Waiting(okay, the original vocal on Waiting was definitely not one of Eric Carmen's better moments, but still...)are so sappy, you might just break out laughing. While it's by no means one of the worst songs on this lame CD, the Tiny Lights remake of Go All the Way is a big letdown. It sounds like a middle-aged Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Gos singing with some Atlantic City lounge act. I Wanna Be With You sounds like a cross between the Grateful Dead and Merle Haggard . Yee-haw!
The one bright spot is Scott McCarl's remake of Nobody Knows. He actually trumps his former bandmate by delivering an even more soulful version than the original. The remake of Rose Colored Glasses has a great arrangement which includes a chilling Claptonesque guitar solo, but it's hindered by a rather soulless vocal performance.
The remakes of Last Dance, I Reach For the Light, and Might As Well are fairly interesting; and remakes of Tonight, Play On, Hard to Get Over a Heartbreak are quite respectable, but ultimately inferior to the originals.
And here's the usual rant of a fan who feels some of his favorites are being overlooked - Why are Waiting and Hey Deanie on this, and not Starting Over or I Can Hardly Believe You're Mine (or for that matter I Can Remember, It Seemed So Easy, or Should I Wait).

A Winner Almost 'All The Way'........2000-12-03

Here's a shocker: a tribute album which actually doesn't stink. Sure, it has it's flaws, but they're few and far between.

Inevitably, there's some lo-fi rubbish here which shouldn't have been allowed within a mile of a decent tune (The Rank Strangers, Bunnygrunt - although, to be perfectly fair, the songs both of those have taken on were far from being amongst the 'berries' very best). But, thankfully, there are also those who do no harm without exactly rivaling the originals (The Rubinoos, The Flashcubes, Hushdrops, Off Broadway, The Nicoteens, etc.); those who surprise by being different yet respectful (Brad Jones, Alex Ballard & Sugarfoot, Ken Sharp); and, best of all, those who actually manage to better the almighty originals (The Rock Club, Kevin Hickel, The Webstirs).

All in all, it's the best tribute album this pop fan has ever crossed paths with. So, perhaps there's yet hope for this tired and abused fad the '90s brought us; the "unplugged" album being another one, which so far has faired far worse with not a single decent representative to its name.