The Look Of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection [Box]

Performer: Burt Bacharach
Artist: Elvis Costello; Herb Alpert; Brook Benton; Cilla Black; The Drifters; The Carpenters; Perry Como; Dusty Springfield
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: This deluxe three disc set includes an 89-page book including rare photos and liner notes by Burt Bacharach, Patrick Milligan, Bill De Main, Paul Grein, Alec Cumming. Producers include: Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Phil Ramone, Bones Howe, George Martin. Compilation Producer: Patrick Milligan. If you're at a loss for context, think of Bacharach as the American Jobim. Like his Brazilian counterpart, he combined the influences of jazz and 20th Century classical music with a penchant for odd harmonies and meters, all made palatable by an uncanny gift for infectious melodies. Again like Jobim, Bacharach was more a composer than a performer, and he usually left the singing to professionals (we won't get into the Astrud Gilberto/Dionne Warwick parallels). The Bacharach tunes presented on this three-disc retrospective are the original hit versions as sung by the likes of Warwick, Tom Jones, the Carpenters and others. Over the course of this set, what becomes clear (besides the ungodly bankroll Burt must have amassed via these compositions) is the consistent merging of innovation with pure pop appeal. Perhaps only the Beatles ever pulled off that combo with equal panache.

Spin (1/99, p.92) - Ranked #10 in Spin's list of the "Ten Best Reissues Of 1998." Entertainment Weekly (12/11/98, pp.74-76) - "...As familiar as you may be with these songs, THE LOOK OF LOVE makes you feel as if you've uncovered a treasure chest that was before your eyes the whole time." - Rating: A-

Co-author (with lyricist Hal David) of an extensive string of hits in the '60s, Burt Bacharach is one of the most respected composer/producers in pop history. In Dionne Warwick, Bacharach found a perfect vehicle for his innovations, which fused uncommon rhythms, creative arrangements, and gorgeous melodies, often bringing the sophistication of classical music and jazz to the Top 40 charts. In the '90s, years after the hits dried up, the burgeoning "lounge" music movement provided him with a resurgence in popularity. His late-'90s collaborations with admirer Elvis Costello were widely lauded.

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