Search - Stars on 45 :: Greatest Stars on 45 2

Very good, for what it is

zeke_third-shift-rules | 05/31/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A bit of a caveat here: of my 1000+ titles on CD, most run to the likes of the Rolling Stones, Grand Funk Railroad, ELO, Zep, Bush, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Veruca Salt - hard rock & roll, mostly. Maybe that's meaningful here (your call). Well, I like Vol 2, but I have to say Vol 1 is superior. Vol 1 has more of the, well, the hard rock covers (Stones, Beatles, Who, "Layla", "War of the Worlds",) & more golden classic stuff like Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, the Mamas & Papas, and Barry McGuire. Vol 2 has more bird groups & girl groups stuff, as well as pre-British invasion stuff. There is also a nice selection of Swing & 1930's/1940's influenced stuff here on Vol 2. If you're not on to Stars on 45 - called Stars on Long Play on their albums - it is dance music, or if you prefer, disco, meddleys of mostly HUGE rock and roll songs. Stars on 45 would be campy if they weren't so good at what they do. They play this straight up, but the singing & playing is so very well done that this is very enjoyable listening. The singers at times sound near dead on in their Diana Ross, Mick Jagger, ABBA, Stevie Wonder, & Mama Cass imitations - I get the impression that the singers really like the artists they're copying and that they want these performances to be homages to their musical heroes. And the instrumentation is top notch, and yeah, it's disco, but it's inspired playing of all time great tunes, none the less. Some might say it's a sacrilege to have the Stones & the Beatles tunes turned into disco meddleys, and ditto for Stevie and the rest of the artists - for instance, the Carpenters hits are made into a really good meddley - but, this SOUNDS good, and it's FUN, so I don't find any harm. If you like disco, you will probably really enjoy this. And if you listen with open ears, you might find it a nice type of honor to the great artists that Jaap Eggermont and friends cover. Stars on 45 are different, but in this case, that's good."

Easy listening

Daniel Mulvihill | 11/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"however, you must be a die hard fan of this music, or it gets old after a few plays....and the songs don't sound "so original" after you've played the cd a few times. Overall, great music, just don't play it often, or you'll get sick of it."