The Definitive Collection

by

Dionne Warwick

Edit

First of all, we have yet to have a truly definitive collection of Dionne's best work, which means a cd set that includes all of her 1960s' hits (including "(Theme From) The Valley Of The Dolls" and "This Girl's In Love With You", two top ten hits not on this cd), her 1970s' classics and her '80s' comeback hits. However, "The Definitive Collection" is as close as you can get to a perfect sampler of Dionne's biggest hits.

I'll start by saying that I think "The Windows Of The World" and "After You" could have been cut so they could include "(Theme From) The Valley Of The Dolls" and "This Girl's In Love With You", since those are two of her biggest hits and unless there were publishing problems - which I doubt - they should have definitely been here. Also, "The Windows Of The World" and "After You" are the only weak songs on this cd. Other than that, these songs are true classics. I mean, just look at the selections - "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "Walk On By", "Do You Know The Way To San Jose", "Alfie", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Then Came You", "I'll Never Love This Way Again", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "That's What Friends Are For", to name a few (okay, about half) of the album's classic cuts from nearly 25 years' worth of recording. Her best work was recorded with Burt Bacharach and Hal David at the pen and the helm, although the Barry Manilow - penned "I'll Never Love..." is just as good.

As I said, this isn't exactly definitive, but it's pretty close. In my opinion, the definitive Dionne Warwick collection would be a two disc set that would include all her hits up to today. Here is what the track list should look like:

Disc 1:

"Don't Make Me Over"

"Anyone Who Had A Heart"

"Walk On By"

"A House Is Not A Home"

"You'll Never Get To Haven (If You Break My Heart)"

"Reach Out For Me"

"Are You There

"Message To Michael"

"Trains And Boats And Planes"

"I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"

"Alfie"

"The Windows Of The World"

"I Say A Little Prayer"

"Valley Of The Dolls"

"Do You Know The Way To San Jose"

"Who Is Gonna Love Me"

"There's Always Something There To Remind Me"

"Promises, Promises"

"This Girl's In Love With You"

"The April Fools"

"Odds And Ends"

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"

"I'll Never Fall In Love Again"

Disc Two:

"Then Came You"

"Once You Hit The Road"

"I'll Never Love This Way Again"

"Deja Vu"

"After You"

"No Night So Long"

"Easy Love"

"Some Changes Are For Good"

"Friends In Love"

"Heartbreaker"

"Take The Short Way Home"

"How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye"

"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"

"That's What Friends Are For"

"Whisper In The Dark"

"Love Power"

"Reservations For Two"

"What The World Needs Now Is Love"

Overall, however, this is definitely a great collection for any music fan. Pick this cd up as soon as you can. It won't change your life, but it's excellent msuic.

The Definitive Collection should have been one of the best compilations of the great Dionne Warwick's career yet. The song selection leaves out some of Dionne's' older '60s hits, but does encompass the full range of her successful career.

The remastering job sounds superb, and that is the top criteria I look for in CDs these days. They've applied 20-bit digital mastering from the original master tapes.

Unfortunately, and this is a real problem, on several of the tracks the first few seconds of the song have been truncated. Cutting off the first few notes of a song simply ruins it. It's unforgivable that professionals at a major label can publish something flawed this badly and no one notice. Yet I notice the screw ups the first time I listen to this CD.

The flawed tracks are: Alfie, Do You Know The Way To San Jose, Don't Make Me Over, I Say A Little Prayer, Message To Michael, Walk On By, The Windows Of The World, Deja Vu, After You, Love Power, That's What Friends Are For. The intro was truncated on practically EVERY single track. It's possible that I just received a bad CD, but that's not very likely.

Despite the great promise of this otherwise wonderful CD, cutting off the intros renders the CD unusable for listening - and a waste of money, unless you plan to just sample from it.