Natalie Cole - "Natalie Cole - Greatest Hits, Vol. 1"

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Music reviews of "Natalie Cole - Greatest Hits, Vol. 1"

Music Review: This Will Be (An Everlasting String Of Hits)!
Rating: 4 Stars

The new millenium finds Ms Cole reflecting on the highlights and low points of her personal and professional career in her current biography "Angel On My Shoulder," an upcoming television movie, a well received, revealing episode on VH-1's Behind The Music, and now this retrospective of hits.

The collection contains many of the chart-toppers that ignited her career in the mid 1970's: "This Will Be," "I've Got Love On My Mind" and "Inseparable." Also included are several choice live performances of the era represented by "Mr Melody," the top 5 "Our Love," and a stirring rendition of the Beatles "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," which finally makes its first appearance on CD (originally on "Natalie Live" from 1977).

It was during that period that she flirted with many different genres and musical landscapes. "I Can't Say No," and "I'm Catching Hell" are selections that highlight her a gospel flavor. Natalie was cited by many critics to be the next Aretha Franklin when she came on the scene in 1975. Incidentally, Cole actually broke Aretha's incredible 8 year run as the best female r@b performer at the 1975 grammy awards!

On the upbeat and relentless,"La Costa," Natalie experiments with jazz and salsa stylings that would serve as a foreshadowing of her experimental transition to cover her legendary father's songs in the early 1990's. Natalie hesitated to do so earlier in her career because she wanted to be recognized on her own merits and not solely as the daughter of the legendary Nat King Cole. Through the years whatever Natalie choose to sing, she did with elegance and style.

The 1980's were a decade in which Natalie recorded sporadically, but didn't achieve the level of superstardom that she achieved most notably with her earliest recordings. The highlights of that time included here is a highly energized version of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac" which brought her back to the top 5 on the pop charts in over a decade, and the engaging ballad "I Live For Your Love" from her "Everlasting" disc. Also included is "Miss You Like Crazy" which returned Natalie (righteously so) to the apex on the R@B charts by the end of the decade.

Natalie's sentimental, computer-generated duet with her father, "Unforgettable" is included on the collection. This was the title track to her multi-platinum collection of 22 standards she recorded in tribute to her father, Nat King Cole. 1991 was the year that she dominated the Grammy awards and consistently received regular airplay on contemporary radio and whose breakthough video was consistently aired on most video music stations. That was the year that everyone realized, recognized, and remembered her for the talented performer that she was. On a VH-1 special, record producer, David Foster, cited Natalie as an overlooked diva who deserves all the recognition of the best of her contemporaries.

One of the highlights for me on this collection involved the inclusion of her revival of Leon Russell's poignant and moving "A Song For You." This classic song has been recorded from the ranks of Karen Carpenter to the legendary Ray Charles. Natalie's version ranks with the best of them as she makes the performance, truly one of her own.

Other new songs on this collection includes the Diane Warren penned "A Smile Like Yours," the auto-biographical self penned collaboration with Richard Marx, "Angel On My Shoulder," and the techno and highly danceable "Livin' For Love" (which should become a club favorite) which ends the collection.

Although I give Natalie's delivery and recording production 5 stars, this collection gets only four for several reasons. This clearly could have been a 2 CD retrospective (as the title/Volume 1 speaks to...) It would have been refreshing to have all the hits and the notable album tracks in one place, without having to wait for a Volume 2 to be released.

The most notable omissions are the grammy award winning "Sophisticated Lady (She's A Different Lady)," "Someone That I Used To Love," "Jump Start," "Take A Look," "When I Fall In Love" (her 1987 solo version and the 1990's duet with Nat King Cole on her "Stardust" CD), "Wild Women Do"(from the "Pretty Woman" soundtrack), and the original versions of "Mr. Melody" and "Our Love," which clearly outshines the live performances on this CD.

I also was hoping for comprehensive linear notes. There is a brief blurb written by Natalie herself and the production credits for all songs are listed on the inner contents. I would also prefer a more comprehensive view of Natalie's albums and work with more photos and information. I believed this was omitted to leave the consumer to seek out the auto-biographical book "Angel On My Shoulder."

Nonetheless, the music clearly stands on its own. It's been long overdue for a more comprehensive Natalie Cole retrospective of her 1970's/1980's/1990's output. For those seeking the most viable period of Natalie's recording career, I recommend "The Natalie Cole Collection," which was released in the mid 1980's. For those of you seeking the torch song collections reminiscent of the Nat King Cole era, the most notable choices are "Unforgetable With Love," "Take A Look," and "Stardust." This collection should appeal to any novice of Cole's music because it draws upon an eclectic mixture of styles; rhythm and blues, torch, adult contemporary, and dance.

Description of "Natalie Cole - Greatest Hits, Vol. 1"

Broadway & Vocalists CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• R&B