What The World Needs Now: Big Deal Recording Artists Perform The Songs Of Burt Bacharach

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
From the moment a portrait of Burt Bacharach took pride of place on the cover of Oasis's Definitely Maybe, appreciation--real or feigned--of the great composer-arranger has been a must for the self-respecting pop revivalist. Which is as it should be, but while the irony quotient of this 14-track tribute album may be low, it's hardly as effective at acknowledging fan debts as was Bacharach's own brief, good-natured presence in Austin Powers. One immediate problem is the set's label-based parochialism; fecklessly tune-deficient renderings of "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (by the Absolute Zeros) and "Baby It's You" (by Michael Shelley) are hardly the proper treatment for Bacharach's carefully crafted, often challenging melodies, especially when non-Big Dealers like Stephen Merritt or Elvis Costello are around to do them right. Other renditions turn into pitched battles between song and interpreter, as on "Promise Her Anything," a relatively obscure song originally sung by Tom Jones for a Warren Beatty vehicle of the same name; while the Gladhands hardly match Jones's insouciance, they don't completely pillage the number either. Better, though, to grab a copy of The Dionne Warwick Collection or the Look of Love three-CD set of originals. --Rickey Wright

People
This collection of Bacharach tunes performed by mostly alternative-rock-type modern musicians does include a few felicitous turns. The problem might be that ... the tunes written by him and Hal David are not necessarily music for the ages, so what played nicely in 1967 can sound awfully corny in 1998.

What The World Needs Now: Big Deal Recording Artists Perform The Songs Of Burt Bacharach

What The World Needs Now: Big Deal Recording Artists Perform The Songs Of Burt Bacharach
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    		What The World Needs Now: Big Deal Recording Artists Perform The Songs Of Burt Bacharach
    Various Artists
    Manufacturer: Big Deal Records
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
    Alternative RockAlternative Rock | Compilations | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
    Indie RockIndie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
    LoungeLounge | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Pop | Styles | Music
    Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
    1990s1990s | By Decade | Pop | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
    Power PopPower Pop | Rock | Styles | Music
    1990-19991990-1999 | Decades | Compilations | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B000000ICX
    Release Date: 1998-01-20

    Tracks:

    1. Raindrops Keep Falling On My head - Shonene Knife
    2. (There's) Always Something there to Remind Me - The Absolute Zeros
    3. I'll Never Fall In Love Again - Splitsville
    4. Don't Go Breaking My Hearts - Ondermints
    5. Make It Easy On Yourself - Idle
    6. It Doesn't Matter Anymore - BMX Bandits
    7. Promise Her Anything - Glanhands
    8. Baby It's You - Michael Shelley
    9. Trains And Boats And Planes - Dan Kibler
    10. Walk On By - Cockeyed Ghost
    11. Wishin' And Hopin' - The Vandalias
    12. It's Love That Really Counts - Barely Pink
    13. (They Long To Be) Close To You - Hannah Cranna
    14. I Say A Little Prayer - Mitchell Rasor

    Amazon.com

    From the moment a portrait of Burt Bacharach took pride of place on the cover of Oasis's Definitely Maybe, appreciation--real or feigned--of the great composer-arranger has been a must for the self-respecting pop revivalist. Which is as it should be, but while the irony quotient of this 14-track tribute album may be low, it's hardly as effective at acknowledging fan debts as was Bacharach's own brief, good-natured presence in Austin Powers. One immediate problem is the set's label-based parochialism; fecklessly tune-deficient renderings of "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (by the Absolute Zeros) and "Baby It's You" (by Michael Shelley) are hardly the proper treatment for Bacharach's carefully crafted, often challenging melodies, especially when non-Big Dealers like Stephen Merritt or Elvis Costello are around to do them right. Other renditions turn into pitched battles between song and interpreter, as on "Promise Her Anything," a relatively obscure song originally sung by Tom Jones for a Warren Beatty vehicle of the same name; while the Gladhands hardly match Jones's insouciance, they don't completely pillage the number either. Better, though, to grab a copy of The Dionne Warwick Collection or the Look of Love three-CD set of originals. --Rickey Wright

    Music:

    1. William Bloke
    2. Without a Sound
    3. Woke Up This Morning [CD-single]
    4. You Don't Come Close [Enhanced] [Live]
    5. 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hour [Enhanced]
    6. 2. Tok
    7. A Blazing Grace
    8. A Boy Named Goo
    9. Amplified Heart
    10. Apartment Tree

    Music

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    Junction Seven

    Opera Transcriptions

    Only a Manger

    Prairie Poetry, Vol. 1

    Best of [Import]

    Sanctus

    Peter Pan (1997 Studio Cast) [Cast Recording]

    Organ Works 4

    Maxi Pop, Vol. 7 [Import]

    Mbira Magic

    Olympia 11 Octobre 1960, Pt. 1 [Live] [Import]

    Nightingale

    Poder de Acero

    Real Deal

    Positively