Sweetheart 2005

by

Various Artists

Edit

There was alot of buzz about the Sweetheart 2005 Love Songs CD when it was first released at the end of 2004, partly because of the caliber of artists involved, and partly because of the songs they selected to cover. I'm not sure if and how the distributing changed later on. This was originally only available through Starbucks stores in the US, and I believe it was geared towards the adult contemporary/MOR demographic, but anybody that is a true music fan knew it was ALOT more than that. Every song covered here is a treasure; in fact there are actually few various artists/compilation albums I can even compare this to. After first playing it, I immediately went back and purchased 6 additional copies to give away as Christmas gifts, and everybody just loved it. You can tell each artist picked a song that was special to them. Covers include songs by The Smiths, Joy Division, Bob Dylan, Bill Withers, even Cat Stevens. I also find that the sequencing is spot on, and ending it with Mindy Smith's singing "A Nightingale Sang in Barclay Square" was a stroke of genius.

I have this almost 3 years now and it still hasn't even begun to get old. I wish they would make more various artists albums like this, but perhaps you can't get lightning in a bottle twice. If you can get your hands on a copy of Sweetheart, I strongly recommend it.