Audio CD review:
Frankie Valli - Frankie Valli - Greatest Hits

Frankie Valli - Frankie Valli - Greatest Hits

Band: Frankie Valli Title: Frankie Valli - Greatest Hits Rating: Release Date: 02 July, 1996 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You 2: My Eyes Adored You 3: Swearin' To God 4: Grease 5: Our Day Will Come 6: To Give (The Reason I Live) 7: You're Gonna Hurt Yourself 8: The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore 9: You're Ready Now 10: Soul

Customer Reviews the great sounds of Frankie Valli This is an album of some of Frankie's greatest hits. Frankie Valli had a marvelous falsetto and his talent led him to a successful solo career after he worked with The Four Seasons. "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" is a `60s ballad that made girls swoon--I wonder why! LOL Frankie never sounded better and his voice is quite strong. The musical arrangement goes along with his vocals perfectly and overall "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" is quite a strong start for this album. "My Eyes Adored You" always brings back memories of my former one true love; Frankie sings this so sweetly with all his heart and soul. I love this tender and touching ballad and I predict you will enjoy it, too. "Swearin' To God" is a more optimistic, joyful number as Frankie celebrates his one true love. The female backup chorus sounds great and Frankie never hits a bad note. "Swearin' To God" is truly one of Frankie Valli's greatest hits--ever. "Grease" is from the show of the same name; and this funky `70s beat still sounds awesome today! I like the musical effects and Frankie performs this with an awful lot of style. I really like "Grease. " "Our Day Will Come" features Frankie at his best; and the `70s melody remains catchy, upbeat and pleasing to the ear. "Our Day Will Come" showcases Frankie's vocals squarely in the spotlight but the backup vocalists do a great job, too. "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" again proves Frankie Valli is a grand king of pop vocalists from the entire twentieth century. Great! As another reviewer notes, the liner notes ARE sparse! We get the song credits but little else. I do like the picture of Frankie on the front cover of the artwork, however. I have two complaints about this CD. First, the album really should have another song or two. A track list of ten songs is a bit too brief for my tastes. Second, other reviewers say that they should have presented the songs in chronological order; and I agree with them. It can be a bit jarring to listen to one song from the 1960s and then jump into a totally different style that Frankie may have used in the 1970s. Ouch! I will have to take off one and one-half stars to make this a three and one-half star review. Frankie Valli will always be a giant amongst giants of the entertainment industry. This album does him some justice but as I noted just above there are two flaws with this album. Nevertheless, staunch Frankie Valli fans may choose to have this in their collections anyway. . A Better Idea... If you really like Frankie's music it would be a much better investment to purchase the album titled "Very Best of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Although the first 5 tracks are classic songs that are a delight to hear, the other five are nothing special. " For just a couple dollars more you'll get all the favorites this album offers plus many he did with the Four Seasons (think: Walk Like a Man, Big Girls Don't Cry, etc). That one is a five star, but this one only gets three. Recommended Retrospective When Frankie Valli went solo, it must have seemed like a no-brainer that he'd be a huge star. The Four Seasons were the fourth biggest singles group of the sixties, only the Beatles, Supremes, and Beach Boys were bigger. He started releasing singles in 1966 with some success -- including the lush, string-filled smash "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (#2 in 1967). However, by 1969 his career had faded. Fortunately, Frankie was one of a handful of sixties male acts whose careers were resurrected in the mid-seventies, along with Neil Sedaka and Paul Anka. Specifically, he hit with the gorgeous ballad "My Eyes Adored You" (#1 in 1975). He followed that hit up with several others, including the disco-fied "Swearin' to God" (#6 in 1975) and "Our Day Will Come" (#11 in 1975) a dance-tinged remake of the sixties hit by Ruby & the Romantics. In addition, he had the biggest hit of his career with the title song from the movie adaptation of "Grease" (#1 for 2 weeks in 1978). All of these songs are on "Greatest Hits," as well as two moderate hits -- "To Give (The Reason I Live) (#29 in 1968) and "You're Gonna Hurt Yourself" (#39 in 1966). The only miss is "Soul," which sounds like an early, cheesier version of "Fame. " I love Frankie Valli's falsetto, and many of these hits use his gorgeous vocals to magical effect. However, this collection could have benefitted from being organized chronologically, as his sixties hits sound extremely different from his mid-seventies singles. Listening to the danceable seventies music and then jumping back to a melodramatic sixties hit is a bit jarring. Frankie really had two careers, and this CD should have reflected that more explicitly. Also, the liner notes are sparse, with only writing and publishing credits listed for each song. The music is great, but the collection could have been a tad better. . . You can see a complete list of all Frankie Valli discography, or go back to the Frankie Valli tabs