Search - Marianne Faithfull :: Greatest Hits

Beautiful 60's pop

Pieter | Johannesburg | 01/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fans of Faithfull's post-1980 work may not appreciate this breezy pop music, but if you love the kind of 60s/70s pop of artists like Petula Clark, Mary Hopkin and even Francoise Hardy, these tracks will totally enchant you. The music has the same dreamy quality as that of the aforementioned singers, and the choice of material is excellent - most of these songs have beautiful melodies and strong hooks, while the lyrics are often poetic too. It includes the Stones' As Tears Go By and the one that she co-wrote with Jagger/Richards, Sister Morphine, the only song that feels a bit out of place here in its dark subject matter, although her delivery is stunning. Quite appropriately, it rounds off this collection. Her version was released as a single some months before the Stones' version appeared on their Sticky Fingers album. Other famous compositions include The Beatles' Yesterday and the Mamas & Papas' Monday Monday, both very well rendered by Marianne. Other tuneful numbers include This Little Bird, Summer Nights and Come and Stay With Me, but my top favorites here are the three sad songs Go Away From My World, In My Time of Sorrow and the powerful Is This What I Get For Loving You? The production and arrangements perfectly complement her voice, to provide a wonderful listening experience. This is truly the crème de la crème of sixties pop and goes to show that pop music can be timeless too."

Fresh young Marianne at her best

uthungus | San Francisco, CA | 09/15/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What can I say about Faithful's voice post 60s? She essentially went from one breed of singer (like a Nico, Vasthi, Ross Hannaman or other tonal folksy female singers) to another entirely just by "trashing" her voice smoking so much! Not even like Marlene Dietrich or Julie London who started out "youngish-sounding" and then the vocal damage added a bit of mystery to their later recordings; Faithful just (to me) sounds horrid trying to re-record anything she did from this era now! I agree that "Sister Morphine" would have been better replaced by her version of "I'm a Loser" which was still at her peak of youthful vocal quality. Also that this would be better titled as "Greatest from the 60's" or "Early Years", but one camp likes her later works, etc.. I'm just glad both levels were recorded in her singing career span and those that like each of her efforts can have that available."

Misleading

Nonyobusiness | Middleton, Massachusetts United States | 04/20/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The title is EXTREMELY misleading, this is her greatest hits of the 60s! NOT after, which is when Marianne really shines. For a beginner, get broken english. This one is definitely for a faithfull fan like me who wants a decent compilation of her 60s stuff. Includes the classic "Sister Morphine" though, which seems like it shouldnt even be on the album. If you are an experienced faithfull fan, 2 thumps up."