Al Martino Collection, The (I Love You Because) - Al Martino

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...'s composition "Spanish Eyes", which has gone on to become his theme song. Alright, well what's the CD like? It's 19 tracks of live recordings, with hugely enjoyable renditions of chestnuts like "Feelings", "Painted Tainted Rose" and "Strangers In The Night", along with some old Italian-American favourites "Volare" and "O Marenariello", with Al and the band all totally at ease with the material and each other. During "Strangers In The Night" he throws in a line "you looked like you were nervous" and you can hear the band all laughing in the background. I like his careful rendition of "Mary In The Morning" and the funked up quickstep of "Quando Quando Quando". He often switches from English to Italian whilst singing, which is fun to listen to. A good example is on Livraghi and Panzeri's "A Man Without Love (Quando Minamoro... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Super mix of the sublime and the unusual
Disadvantages: No beatles tracks

...17. Another Brick In The Wall - Pink Floyd 18. Mull Of Kintyre - McCartney, Paul & Wings 19. Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum 20. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel 21. Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers 22. Here In My Heart - Martino, Al Titles on Disc 2 1. Where The Streets Have No Name - U2 2. Don't Stand So Close To Me - Police 3. Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie 4. Tainted Love - Soft Cell 5. Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood 6. Don't You Want Me - Human League 7. Come On Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners 8. Karma Chameleon - Culture Club 9. Heart Of Glass - Blondie 10. Don't Look Back In Anger - Oasis 11. Drugs Don't Work - Verve 12. Angels - Williams, Robbie 13. Nothing Compares 2 U - O'Connor, Sinead 14. Whole Again - Atomic Kitten 15. Love Is All Around - Wet Wet Wet 16. Baby One More... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: 61 Tracks covering a wide genre of music spanning 4 decades
Disadvantages: Takes a while to get going

...been in operation for in excess of fifty years, and during this period they have championed all sorts of different music genres including psychedelia, prog, rock, punk, hip hop, Acid House, Grunge, and Britpop. This wide variety of musical genres is reflected on this 3CD collection, and all in all they do a decent job. However, I don't know if it's my age, or whether I wasn't into the punk era as much as others, but the first disc is a bit of a let down. Don't get me wrong there are some great tracks on there such as Sheena is a Punk Rocker and Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) but there are too many obscure tracks. Now I know this is an NME classics album, and I know that part of their appeal was their championing of unfashionable bands, but for me a lot of these aren't what I would call classics. That though is my... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful