From Dusty...With Love
S. Sittig | Washington, D.C. | 11/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If this is the very first time you've heard FROM DUSTY WITH LOVE (A BRAND NEW ME in the US), hold on to your hat...cause it grows on you..like a bad fungus! When I first heard this album I thought it was rather bland actually (and my Amazon.com review under the US Rhino Release "A Brand New Me" reflects that) but now it's one of my favorites. Like a good wine, you really can't appreciate all the complexities of this album until you've gotten used to it and know what to look/listen for.Dusty's vocal work on this album is perhaps her best ever, perhaps even better than DUSTY IN MEMPHIS (sacrilege!). The intensity of "Lost", the sheer longing in "Never Love Again" (especially the opener), the funk/soul of "Let's
Talk It Over" (and the expert use of amazing vocal riffs towards the end) the tenderness of "Let's Get Together Soon" (the "wrong or right, day and night, I miss you, and all my heart seems to do" section gets me where I live every single time!), this is Dusty at her laid-back soulful best. Vocally she was at her peak and it shows. The 3 bonus tracks are wonderful, especially the alternate takes of "The Richest Girl Alive" and "Summer Love"..(2 tracks cut from the original pressing but then released on the compilation LOVE SONGS last year). Vocally, these takes sound better,but the tempo in the arrangements is a bit dirge-like.Less formal than DUSTY IN MEMPHIS, less eclectic than her other work, this album really is a work of art that I usually don't
recommend to Dusty beginners,it has to grow on you,and it will. Believe me, it will.Like Dusty once sang..."If you only give me time...""
SILK 'N SOUL VOCAL MASTERPIECE~BRAVO DUSTY!!!
Bradly Briggs | TOLUCA LAKE, CALIFORNIA | 07/23/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"From Dusty....With Love is the ground-breaking Philly-Soul masterpiece that is one of the very finest to come from the Gamble & Huff classic period that really got started with this awesome release and Gamble & Huff made the right selection by starting off their superb vocal lp productions with the masterful Dusty Springfield who remains to this day at the top of the heap of the all time greatest blue-eyed soul singers...this stunning collection of great originals with smoldering and magnificent vocal performances is the ultimate!!!
Dusty goes deep inside of each song in a way that is unsurpassed and never was this peerless singer finer...opening with a hot cooking bass, "Lost" would have easily gone to #1 if programmed and promoted so that people could hear this engrossing classic...after a few listens all of these great songs grab the listener in a way that is rare...such amazing greatness and the interplay between Dusty and the musicians is totally awesome but again commercial radio programmers missed the boat and The Grammy Award foundation must have been tired and zoned out!!! "Bad Case Of The Blues" is a velvety smooth vocal that becomes a soulful classic while the bluesy and hypnotic athem "Never Love Again" aches with longing and yearning of lost love with a vocal so completely magnificent that it demands repeated listens...it is that moving and riveting! Standouts abound in this incomparable collection with "Let Me In Your Way" being very smooth and unique while the inviting "Let's Get Together Soon" is soulfully infectious. "A Brand New Me" was a hit featuring a stellar Dusty vocal supported by a great rhythm track and throughout this brilliantly arranged collection are great musicians at their peak and tremendous background vocals! "Joe" is hauntingly beautiful with a smoldering vocal full of pathos and drama then "Silly, Silly Fool" is bright and breezy hit single with a cooking rhythm track that should have been a much bigger hit..."The Star Of The Show" is a smooth silk & soul elegant winner and the closing stirring and riveting classic "Let's Talk It Over" features Dusty at her soulful best in a collection that shows that Dusty deserved far greater success with this collection as it doesn't get any better than this...bonus tracks flow well with the original album and feature Dusty at her peak. Dusty you are truly missed and thank you for all of the wonderous gems that you left for us to savor and enjoy!!!"
