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The Four Tops - Four Tops - Greatest Hits Audio CD

A fair review of the The Four Tops "Four Tops - Greatest Hits" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Four Tops reviews here, or go back to the The Four Tops tabs.

The Four Tops Band: The Four Tops
Title: Four Tops - Greatest Hits
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Baby I Need Your Loving 2: It's the Same Old Song 3: Reach Out (I'll Be There) 4: Ask the Lonely 5: Standing in the Shadows of Love 6: Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever 7: I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) 8: Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worthwhile) 9: 7-Rooms of Gloom 10: Something About You 11: Bernadette 12: Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)

The TOP of the line for a true classic troupe!
With strong vocals by lead Levi Stubbs, the group soared in the mid-60s, releasing a barrage of songs that climbed both the R & B and pop charts. Though fellow Motown label mates The Supremes and The Temptations seem to occupy a higher status in the collective memories of "boomers", the quartet known as The Four Tops had its share of top-selling classic hits, also.

If one wants to know others responsible for the legend that was Motown, one needs look no further than this marvelous compilation of the best from The Four Tops.


I don't know what everybody's complaining about:(
If you want an album of their formative years(1964-1967)this is the album for you!Although, confidentially speaking, I prefer mono vinyl to stereo CD. The Greatest Hits album is a GREAT way to start a Four Tops collecton.


Maybe All You Need
Though later songs from the early to mid 70's are missing, to these ears they weren't as stunning as those collected here. Though this collection spans only about three years, it was the peak of the Tops output. I think Levi Stubbs was best on the melodramatic material presented on this collection-when he gets subtle, it isn't as effective. My personal favorites are "Bernadette," "Reach Out I'll Be There" and "Ask The Lonely. " (which should have been a bigger hit than it was) "Ask The Lonely" is a masterpiece that to my ears doesn't get the credit it deserves. This is the collection that got them into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.


An excellent sampling of the Four Tops in their prime.
The legendary songwriting/production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland (also responsible for the vast bulk of the Supremes' most enduring hits) created 10 of the songs, including the powerful numbers that made the Four Tops' sound perhaps pop/soul music's closest link to grand opera. While this album covers only the first three years of the Four Tops' initial eight-year run as Motown stars, it serves a valuable purpose: It provides an aural "snapshot" of the group at the peak of its hit-making powers. Propelled by Levi Stubbs' heart-wrenching lead vocals and the Greek chorus-like harmonies of Renaldo Benson, Abdul Fakir and the late Lawrence Payton (occasionally augmented by backup chorale), the group alternately verges on a nervous breakdown ("Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)," "7 Rooms of Gloom"), uplifts the spirit ("Reach Out I'll Be There") and stirs the soul ("Bernadette," one of the all-time-great songs about a man's love for a woman, e. g. , "In you I have/what other men long for/All men need someone/to worship and adore/That's why I treasure you/and place you high above/For the only joy in life/is to be loved"). The non-H-D-H songs are also fine, particularly "Just Ask The Lonely," a melancholy reflection on the elusiveness of everlasting love: "Just ask the lonely/and they'll tell you the pain/of losing a love/you will never regain. " All is topped off by sing-along classics "Baby I Need Your Loving," "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" and "It's The Same Old Song. " While the Tops never achieved the teenybopper popularity of the Temptations and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, they proved on this first collection of greatest hits that they held the Motown monopoly on mature, heartfelt passion.


Great, but------
The latter has all the songs of this one, plus many more. Don't waste your money on this album! For a dollar more, purchase their collection of hits in "The Ultimate Collection" by the Four Tops. I discovered this after purchasing this one.


You can see a complete list of all The Four Tops discography, or go back to the The Four Tops tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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