This is one of the rare Greatest Hits compilations (and this band had a LOT of hits) that is sonically competitive with the original albums.
You’ll find most of the best Bread ballads here, including Make It With You, Everything I Own, Baby I’m A Want You, and If.
Listening to these acoustic guitars brings back memories of my first encounter with a British original of Tea for the Tillerman. Rich, sweet, full-bodied, effortlessly dynamic — that sound knocked me out thirty plus years ago, and here it is again.
I guess I’ve just always been a sucker for this kind of well-crafted pop. I was buying Bread album in the early Seventies while still in high school.
If you’re a sucker too, then this killer copy of The Best of Bread will no doubt become a treasured disc in your home as well.
When you hear sound this good, it makes you appreciate the music even more than the sound. Over the years I’ve even come to enjoy the rockers on side two. I used to consider side two the weak part of the album. To hear the vocal harmonies that these guys produced is to be reminded of singers of the caliber of the Everly Brothers or The Beatles. It’s Pure Pop for Now People, to borrow a good line from Nick Lowe.
Of course, by Now People, I’m referring to people who appreciate the music that came out more than thirty years ago. Whenever I hear a pop record with sound like this, I have to ask myself, “What went wrong with popular recordings over the last two or three decades? Why do none of them ever sound like this?”
Not to worry.
Audiophiles with good turntables have literally an endless supply of good recordings to discover and enjoy. No matter how many records you have, you can’t have even scratched the surface of the recorded legacy of the last 60+ years. That’s the positive thought for the day. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just another step on your journey through the world of music.
One further note.
Records like this only get better over time. There are no shortcomings in this recording to be revealed by better equipment, in painfully stark contrast to the vast majority of audiophile pressings and remasterings that reveal their phony, lifeless and often just plain weird sound as your stereo and critical listening skills improve. In other words, if you make a change to your stereo and this record starts to sound better, you did the right thing.
Side One
Make It With You
Everything I Own
Diary
Baby I’m-A Want You
It Don’t Matter to Me
If
Side Two
Mother Freedom
Down on My Knees
A tribute to The Beatles! If you can find a song that sounds more like The Beatles than this one, I’d love to hear it. The guitars, the harmonies, the beat — even the instrumental break, with a guitar solo right out of George Harrison’s playbook — everything here sounds Fab!
Too Much Love
Let Your Love Go
Look What You’ve Done
Side one is the Ballad side. Side two is the Rock side. This is the only track on side two that really lets you compare the sound of sides one and two with similiar material. This song starts out like a ballad and halfway through changes into a rocker. If you have a good side two, this song should sound every bit as good as the gorgeous ballads on side one.
Truckin’
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If you’re searching for the perfect sound, you came to the right place.