Customer Rating:  
Summary: From one that despises Smooth Jazz.......
Comment: Let me be the first to admit that Norman Brown is a very talented guitarist, often drawing comparisons to George Benson. He's actually one of the few listenable artists in the genre, and that's being as about as nice as I can on speaking about his chosen field of music. This collection of "greatest hits" probably are some of the most requested, often played songs on Smooth Jazz radio. I guess that's a good thing, as I find a majority of this album, mostly covers, to be a waste of air, and as sleep inducing as a Nyquil daquiri. Most Smooth jazz artists, Brown included play these familiar, popular classic songs about as close to the vest as possible, never deviating, and only prompting me to want to grab the original song. I have no problem with covers, but as a jazz artist if you are going to cover something, then do your own thing with it and take a few liberties. IT"S OKAY!! NOTE FOR NOTE PLAYING ISN'T NECESSARY!!! WE DON"T NEED TO BE REMINDED THAT YOU ARE PLAYING LUTHER"S "ANY LOVE" WE KNOW THE SONG, OKAY??!! I know that smooth jazz has been successful following a formula, and I wouldn't expect them to change any time soon. It's just a shame that the whole spirit of real jazz is lost on a few talented musicians in the game. Brown's version of "That's The Way Love Goes" is very nice, but the rest of this collection does nothing for me at all. I got this cd for free, but since I don't need any drink coasters, I'll pass it on to my wife who'll enjoy it and probably ask me to take her to his next concert. So if any of you Norman Brown fans see a man with a beautiful woman on his arm, yet he's wearing a pained expression, come on over and strike up a convo. It beats falling asleep in my chair.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Anything but!
Comment: No track from "Celebration"?That is a huge joke,because that is Brown's best album ever,infact it's hard to see him will outdo himself on any future release.I can't believe that he didn't include material from what most people consider his best work.That for me kills off the idea of a "Best of..." compilation.
I feel the guy is just trying to remind us where he's been,because I would have flooded an album titled as such with tracks from a gem of a piece of work.No "Outa Nowhere", no "Celebration",no "Breaking Out",no "Paradise"...what am i looking back at?
Not rubbishing his career,though.He's had a great one so far,except that his last full release was terrible.He owes us fans an apology for trying to sound and feel like George Benson,as if we haven't had enough of one person and his antics.It was a lazy effort,to say the least and I hope he can do much better next time around
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