Raspbernie Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Raspberries Still Ripe By Mark Brown Better late than never. Thirty years after the Raspberries blazed new trails in power pop and concise songwriting, they're back with a package that pulls it all together and gives their legacy its due. It's not just the fine musical performances on the discs; it's also the liner notes by Bruce Springsteen (noting that "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" "should go down as one of the great mini-rock-opera masterpieces of all time") and a photo inside the package of John Lennon in a Raspberries shirt. The Cleveland band regrouped in 2005 for a small run of reunion shows (including one in Denver) that's lovingly preserved on Live on Sunset Strip, a concert album produced by Mark Linnett, the Beach Boys engineer who knows a thing or two about mixing harmonies. Those harmonies are here with the reunion of the classic lineup—Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti—augmented by enough backing musicians to give the songs their due. The radio classics are here—"Let's Pretend," "Go All the Way," "I Wanna Be With You" and more—along with album tracks and covers that perfectly fit the band, including a cover of The Who's "I Can't Explain" that should have Roger Daltrey worrying about job security. With the band's breakup and Carmen's solo career, these songs never got driven into the ground like those of so many groups from the '70s, so both the band and the ecstatic audience are eager to make the most of them. The deluxe package has a bonus DVD with footage that, oddly, contains only five songs from the show. Fans certainly would have loved to see more. But as the DVD notes, "They said it would never happen," and it has. One hopes the band uses this as a springboard for more touring. Rocky Mountain News , August 14, 2007 __________ Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellie Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Very nice review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin23 Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 The DVD is totally awesome..even after seeing it 5 times this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Krider Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Nice review. I'm hoping Rykodisc has sent a review copy to The New York Daily News since they ranked Raspberries as one of the Top 10 concert events of 2005. The Chicago Sun Times (two stories in 2005 on the band) and L. A. Weekly would be two others that the label should be sure have copies of the album for review. I still have hopes Cleveland Scene will do a review, too. Don Krider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlesteve Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 This morning I received an unsolicited email from Amazon announcing the availability of Sunset Strip. It must because of my buying habits, but it's cool that they have a proactive marketing effort. The reviews on Amazon are over the top. "Coupled with the sheer talent of each band member at their craft, spilling over this record in bucketfuls, this is perhaps the greatest live power pop record ever made. If Cheap Trick's "Live At Budokan" has an older brother, this is it." Now THAT's a memorable quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiesjc Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 That's a great aspect of Amazon, Steve. At first, it seemed pushy and irritated me, but then I realized that approach to marketing was actually alerting me to other things I was interested in, and didn't even know existed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianed Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Oh Band Members....listen to the nice man !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneG Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Still ripe and still good for you!GREAT reading all these positive reviews from diverse sources. I haven't come across a negative one, yet!Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HT from Mo Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 I too got an e-mail from Amazon. I'm still thinking about getting another copy to have in my stash!!! Excellent review! Hopefully our boys will take note(which I hope they are) and be in the planning stages of another tour. HT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris hess Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 very cool indeed!!! they SO MUCH deserve this after OH SO LONG!!! let's keep them coming!! join the raspberries trainride!!! lol,chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 "Sheer talent of each member spilling over in bucketfuls...the greatest live power pop record ever made." WOW!!! I *told* you this would get noticed. That's some review!!!! Thanks so much for posting it. They'll keep comin', too! --Darlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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