VA - Burt Bacharach & Friends - Gold [Remastered] (2006)

This 2006 41-track double dose of Burt Bacharach's prolific career is obviously not nearly as comprehensive as Rhino's 1998 The Look of Love three-CD, 75-song package that remains the standard by which other collections of the songwriter's work will be judged. But it's not bad, either. Hip-O/Universal is no novice to the artist's pop work; the label has already released The Reel Burt Bacharach, a compilation of tunes taken from soundtracks (that shares six cuts with this) and 2004's massive Something Big: The Complete A&M Years...And More box of the composer interpreting his songs (which shares only two entries). Since the scope is similar, there is much duplication with the Rhino collection. Although this doesn't have the detailed and voluminous liner notes and is not presented in chronological order as Rhino's is, the first nine selections can be found on the earlier set, and 12 more are scattered throughout the rest of these discs. But that leaves a full 20 cuts done by different artists or not included on the Rhino release, and some of these are quite good. Perhaps to lessen the emphasis on Dionne Warwick, Hip-O's compiler uses other singers' versions of material typically associated with Bacharach's most famous interpreter. "Walk on By" performed with lover-man intensity by Isaac Hayes (in an edited version from Hot Buttered Soul's extended original) is a smart choice, as is the Pretenders' rather rare "The Windows of the World," Aretha Franklin's soulful "I Say a Little Prayer," and the Marvelettes' reliable Motown workup of "Message to Michael." But Cher's "Alfie" is stiffly over-produced and Jerry Orbach's original cast vocal of "Promises, Promises," although a reasonable choice, just doesn't compare to Warwick's smoother slant. The less said about Sybil's cheesy electronic dancefloor approach to "Don't Make Me Over" -- largely patterned from Naked Eyes' "Always Something There to Remind Me" -- the better (even though it did chart at number two R&B in 1989). Other substitutions occur with Luther Vandross' "A House Is Not a Home" (filling in for Brook Benton's original) and Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66's "The Look of Love" (replacing Dusty Springfield's better-known performance), which notched a solid showing of number four on the 1968 pop charts. Elsewhere, this release contains a few good (Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas' "Trains and Boats and Planes"), bad (Neil Diamond's "Heartbeat"), and ugly (see Sybil) selections not on Rhino's edition. Since it is also less expensive, it makes for a dependable if imperfect recap of Bacharach's work and should satisfy most customers in the market for more than just the hits.