Herb Alpert's Definitive Hits
de·fin·i·tive (adj. )
1. Precisely defined or explicit.
2. Supplying or being a final settlement or decision; conclusive.
3. Authoritative and complete: a definitive biography.
In a greatest hits compilation, "definitive" usually means "authoritative and complete." Definitive Hits is a nice but somewhat flawed compilation. Despite its title, the collection of hits is far from definitive...and the variable sound quality of the earlier tracks is a bit of a disappointment.
A complete collection of the Tijuana Brass's Top 100 charting hits would fill an 80 minute CD...this does not include any solo Herb Alpert recordings, of which you could fill a second CD. By all means, this could have been a two-CD set; in fact, bundling both Classics Vol. 1 and Classics Vol. 20 together would have been a much more "definitive" set. Some listeners feel that it's a little jarring to go from the Mexican-flavored TJB tracks right into "Rise" and "Diamonds"...but that's to be expected for a compilation that spans a few decades.
This CD really treads no new ground. Rather, it appears to be a placeholder for the Tijuana Brass in A&M's catalog. At this point, in the USA, there are no other Tijuana Brass CDs in print! Rumor has it that this release fills a minor void for Alpert's hits, while building up demand for future Tijuana Brass reissue projects.
The sound quality leaves me wondering if these were, indeed, the original master tapes. In some cases they don't sound much better than the 80's CDs (made from LP masters); a song like "A Taste of Honey" still sounds noisy and dull; then again, on the equipment of the day, this song required many track bounces to create. One problem is with the notorious "Tijuana Taxi" tape dropouts. These were noticed on the first Greatest Hits CD, but it's obvious the tape has grown much worse over time. There is substantial, and quite noticeable, tape dropout in the left channel. Other tracks sound quite good, and the tube remastering attempts to add some midrange clarity and warmth to the digital transfer.
The best part of this set are the newly-written booklet notes by Herb Alpert, with a few remembrances. I like this kind of insight, and it makes me long for an Alpert-penned book that chronicles the music of the TJB, his solo recordings and remembrances of A&M from the early days up until the sale to Polygram in 1989. Hopefully there are more notes like this, if we're ever treated to a TJB box set or new album reissues.
Bottom line? I'd give this one 3˝ stars out of 5. Only because there may be better things on the way.
Reviewed by Rudy 4/12/2002; updated 12/15/2003
Posted on Jan 11, 2004 at 1:06 am by Rudy.
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