There must be doo wop in heaven
Travis Dubya McGee Bickle | Texas Quail Hunting Camp | 12/12/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Nice and nicely done...I never grow tired of hearing this stuff. The artistry and love on display here will never fail to brighten up your day...
Docked a star for not being quite as comprehensive and lovingly annotated as the similar Rhino boxes...In general though, Shout! Factory are really producing some top-notch comps these days. Look out, Rhino, they're nipping at your hindquarters...
Classics like "60 Minute Man" and "Work with Me Annie" will always bounce, whatever height they're dropped from, and are easily worth the price of admission, but it's all great.
An excuse to break out the beer, even on the most dismal of winter days..."
POOR Reprocessed Phony Stereo
Kevin J. Roberts | 06/06/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I got as far as the first few tracks and heard obvious reprocessed stereo (they did NOT have stereo doo-wop in early 50's!!). Some sound like compressed MP3s. This may have been expected on budget vinyl LP reissues 30-40 years ago, but not today! This is a terrible shame. The original mono recordings sound 1,000 times better. Phony stereo is PHONY."
Mixed bag
Neal J. Pollock | VA USA | 01/21/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"My set has 3 CDs with 20 songs each plus a bonus CD with 12 songs packaged within & not advertised on the outside. The collection does include a large number of great doo wop groups--but not necessarily their best or even memorable songs. If you didn't get the bonus disc, don't worry, you didn't miss much. Many of its songs are "B" sides of singles--the ones that didn't make it. In the entire set, there are quite a few songs I have no recollection of--though some are pretty good. Yes, the cover lists all the artists & titles, but I got this set as a gift so...I don't want to look a gift set in the mouth. There are a couple songs that I've heard more recent versions of. It was interesting to hear the originals of Blue Velvet & Deep Purple. The discs seem to get better as they go on--I liked #3 best. That said, there are some great tunes here: The Lion Sleeps Tonight, This Magic Moment, Twilight Time, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, etc. I enjoyed perhaps 40% of the songs. The recording quality varies a bit too, from fine to barely acceptable IMHO. The album includes a short write-up insert on the history of doo wop as well as listings of each song/artist/company/how well it did on the charts (e.g. pop, R&B, etc.). Interestingly, many of the songs did not do all that well on the charts--even some of the very familiar ones. Still, this is an easy way to collect a fair number of doo wop songs without downloading them. But then you'd get to pick what you wanted. That's the price of getting a fixed set."