Excellent overview of music legend/pioneer's best work
07/04/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Fats Domino is one of the most important figures in the history of pop music, creating a large body of work with Imperial Records that remains some of the most ground-breaking, entertaining music ever recorded. A pioneer and master of New Orleans rhythm & blues and early rock n' roll, this box set is a great introduction to his work.This box set replaces the 1991 box set, "They Call Me The Fat Man," and in some ways, it's superior, in others, it isn't. The packaging is certainly poorer: a sturdy, neat box with jewel cases is replaced by a digipak wallet, and the nice photo on the front is now a cartoonish, tracing of the same photo with a cartoonish logo (this would've been more appropriate on a Happy Meal). What makes this set better is the sound and track selection. All but 18 tracks from the 1991 box set are duplicated, and the 18 'replacements' are a little better overall, emphasizing rhythm & blues over pop. Furthermore, the sound is much better and completely remastered. The 1991 box set was very poor. Despite using good sources, poor remixing and processing (in some cases, it seems like they were going for a fake stereo effect where they were unable to do any remixing) sabotaged a lot of tracks. That's not the case for this box set.There is a cheaper alternative in the recent 20-track best of, which is more suitable for casual fans and those on a stricter budget. For committed fans, the 8 CD Bear Family box set is the best (and better sound despite the age of the set), being both complete and expensive. There's also a few Ace CD's from the UK that collect all the singles up to the late 50's (therefore missing the latter day hits), also in better sound but without the sped-up sound that was applied after the mixing stage (the original records had this sped-up sound, but Fats doesn't seem to favor it). Depending on how much music you want and how much money you've got, any of these are great introductions to a living legend."
9 #1 Hits From A Rock Legend
L. E STOTTLEMEYER | KCMO | 07/20/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"16 RIAA certified million sellers( at time of their release) and 9 #1 hits on Billboards R&B charts-nothing else needs to be said.How dare a radio dj say this man never had a #1 hit when he hit that spot 9 times on BB's R&B chart. This is the essential Fats Domino collection- for the roots of Rock and Roll are contained within."
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
Martin L. King | 02/17/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"you know, i love simplicity. i love fats domino's music because, to me, he had that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" style. i love that type of stuff when it is good...............and this is beyond that and then some. i STRONGLY recommend this box set. it is actually worth all the hard-earned bucks that you will be spending."
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1