Search - Raspberries :: Capitol Collectors Series: The Raspberries

Fresh and ready to be eaten

09/01/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Raspberries didn't last long--four albums and a handful of singles represents the band's career. Of all the post-Beatles power pop bands, they were among the best. Although Eric Carmen would become better known for some of his early 80's dreck, the material he wrote for the band(along with talented guitarist and songwriter Wally Bryson)showed his true talent as a songwriter.Bryson contributes a number of great songs as well either written solo or in collaboration with Carmen. He is a talent frequently overlooked by most critics and a major contributor to the band's sound. His "Party's over" is a highlight of this album. Additionally, this disc has all of the songs that have come to be associated with the band including "Go all the way"(one of the best power pop songs since "She loves you"). "I wanna be with you", "Last dance" and the ironic "Overnight sensation" all fit into this category as well. This is a band in a different time(now or even the early 80's)would have been appreciated more. Musicians like Matthew Sweet, Freedy Johnston and Big Star all owe a huge debt to this band. Although Big Star was, in some respects, contemporaries of The Raspberries, there is a clear influence from the Raspberries(as well as a Beatles/Badfinger influence found in both bands).The Raspberries tasted more sucess than Big Star and a number of their contemporaries and they deserved more as this compilation shows. Ron Furmanek(who did the Badfinger reissues) does a terrific job of compiling and annotating the album. The mastering by Kevin Reeves sparkles and captures all of the production touches on the original albums with additional detail & depth. these tracks from the original two track masters. They have never sounded this crisp or tight(even the lp's lacked the dynamic range to fully appreciate these songs. Although Rhino's "Little bit of Gold" was quite good, it suffered from much more distortion and compression).The notes are a very complete representation of the band's begining and ending. Originally issued in 1991, this is the definitive collection until their individual albums are released domestically on cd. This generous overview has 20 tracks and includes some radio promos(which are kind of cool to listen to...it's a window into the past of radio). Highly recommended."