At His Very Best
Titre : At His Very Best
Date de publication : 2002
Label : UMTV (UE)
Type : Compilation
Classement : UK#38
Morceaux :
1. Every Kinda People (remix)
2. Bad Case Of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) (remix)
4. Looking For Clues (remix)
5. Some Guys Have All The Luck
6. You Are In My System (re-voiced)
7. You Can Have It (Take My Heart)
8. Some Like It Hot - The Power Station
9. Addicted To Love (edit)
10. I Didn't Mean To Turn You On
11. Sweet Lies
13. She Makes My Day
14. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - with UB40
15. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) / I Want You (edit)
16. Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley (remix)
17. Riptide
18. I Need Your Love So Bad
19. TV Dinners
Cette compilation a été rééditée en 2003 avec un DVD bonus. Une version Deluxe a également été publiée en 2004 avec deux CD et un DVD.
Critiques / Reviews :
- "I must admit I approached this album with much trepidation. Apart from his obvious big hits, like 'She Makes My Day', 'Addicted To Love' and 'Mercy Mercy Me', I wasn't aware of much of Robert Palmer's work. However, I was positively shocked when I first heard this CD. I was very familiar with so many more of these songs - I just hadn't always realised who they were by. Palmer has had a long successful career spanning three decades, which is reflected on this compilation album. 'Johnny And Mary' is a lazy, chilled track with a hook that appears to gently drip into your ears without you noticing and yet, every time you hear it, the chorus stays in your head for weeks. 'Some Like It Hot' was the result of his collaboration with John and Andy Taylor from Duran Duran, recorded under the name The Power Station. Memories of mobiles the size (and weight) of bricks, and flashy guys dressed in silver suits sipping preposterous cocktails immediately spring to mind... In other words, it's best kept as an embarrassing memory. Following this we have his biggest hit 'Addicted To Love'. It is impossible to hear this song without thinking of the classic video featuring sultry models dancing in the background and doing a bad impression of playing guitars. This is simply a classic song. The vocals and production are spot on and this track has easily passed the test of time. And it becomes clear that Palmer's voice is much under-rated. He has a wonderfully relaxed and deceptively lazy drawl that somehow always seems warm, and it twirls around the instrumentation perfectly. He is a classic soul singer, from the days back when soul actuallly meant something. The influence of disco appears to seep into around half of the songs but it is always kept in the background. 'Simply Irresistible' is an example of this. It almost appears that he is afraid to go the whole hog and do a complete disco track. Then again it is this interplay between classic rock riffs and disco beats that make some of these songs timeless classics. The closing track, 'TV Dinners', is a version of the ZZ Top song. Stripped down to its bare bones it is a decent cover and is injected with Palmer's noted good humour. But as the closing track of a 'best of' collection it simply does not work and ends the album on a rather sour note. A shame. Strip away the chaff of this record and you will find an interesting artist who has produced an impressive body of diverse work." (Music OMH)
- "If you're a fan of Palmer's bombastic '80s style, you will approve of the selection. If you think Palmer's best work came on the rootsier '70s LPs he made with assistance from Little Feat and The Meters, then you'll be disappointed. All the hits? And not much more." (Uncut)