The Complete Singles Collection

[Marian]

That's brilliant John. So pleased you got a mention, obviously well deserved.
Marian

[mariana44]

Fame at last John---how exciting for you.

[Mark Fox]

Price gone up at hmv.com but still the same at play.com!

[Josh]

After receiving this set a few weeks back I have been enjoying it immenseley Great sound, great singing and I couldn't believe how affordable it was! 5 dics for 8.99 it didn't seem real! I thought amazon had made a mistake lol. So many songs on here that I'm having my first introduction too and several of those have already become favourites. Start Living is a great record! I'm really pleased it also contains some more of the Spanish vocals, they are superb:D. Overall a fine set with one great track after another, the presentation was excellent. Great cover and linear notes by Michelle, really pleased it had all the extra info (e.g chart postion, arranger, date recorded etc I just love having all that included) Congratulations too all involved, this is how a singers back catalogue is reissued!! So happy I own this one

[mariana44]

Nice review Josh--you were lucky to get it at £8.99. I had preordered it at that price---or thoUght I had--when it did not arrive I checked Amazon, and no sign of my order--so I had to re-order-at £11.99---still a bargain !!

[ROBERT M.]

Wrong page......but The Greatest is now available for pre-order at Amazon for £8.98

[mariana44]

I ordered mine , just this afternoon.

[jon]

I've had a chance to start listening to The Complete Singles Collection, disc by disc, and thought I'd offer some preliminary thoughts.

Disc 1 - Lots of tracks on here I'd not heard before, and most are a pleasant surprise. Matt's voice sounds deeper than in later years and perhaps a little more restrained as maybe he was still finding his feet vocally, but nonetheless his singing still displays the trademark phrasing and breath control that we all know and love him for. Standout tracks for me include The Garden of Eden, Prisoner of Love, Have Guitar Will Travel, and (surprisingly) The Bean Song: nice, uptemp number.

I'll give my thoughts on other discs later but here are some general comments: quite a few of the tracks (and perhaps the better ones) are also on The Rare Monro, so there's a sense of duplication here, to some extent. Also, unlike many other people, I don't really like the Spanish songs, I'm afraid , and tend to skip them, but, hey, each to his own. More later.

[Marian]

Sounds like you are enjoying them Jon
There are also 4x 5 star reviews on the Singles Collection on Amazon, including another from Mr Pollock.

[Rmoore]

Glad your enjoying it Jon,

Yes there is some duplication but in many cases the versions used here are first time Stereo or from better sources than the Rare Monro.

Richard

[ROBERT M.]

One reviewer on Amazon, Mr H says the set is "let down by a lacklustre cover" .............the silly man .........I personally love the cover, with a nice pic of Matt, and as it is a singles set, the cover says it all, an all round nice CD package

[Michele Monro]

You are absolutely right Robert. I actually had the idea for the cover and threw my design to EMI, who decided to follow through with it. Steve Woof came up with the MM trademark which is a great touch. Maybe the writer of the review didn't realise that it is based on an original 45rpm cover, it is the same reason I asked EMI if we could put a different singles label on each disc, one to differentiate each disc from the other but secondly to add a bit of historical value to the set.

[Josh]

I love the cover, it's perfect for this sort of set. The recreation of a 45RPM sleeve was a stroke of genuis! The various disc designs also made me very happy, I love that sort of detail on a CD. Michele is right it definatley adds historical value, it's makes the set all the more special.

[jon]

I've now moved on to Disc 2. The standout track for me is One Day - I love Matt's phrasing, and just the general melody really: a real gem in my book. It reminds of a classical tune but I can't quite think what. Maybe a forumite, possibly Paul, could help me out on this one.

I've been wondering how many, and which, of the singles on the entire collection were different recordings from the ones we're more used to. The only obviously different recording I've noticed so far is From Russia With Love; in the Singles version Matt takes no breath in the phrase "To Russia I flew but there and then" whereas he clearly does on the more familiar recording.

I enjoyed the more uptempo songs on Disc 2 though my favourite Matt songs are almost always the slower ones, and this is no exception: And Roses And Roses and Before You Go are two fine tracks I'd not heard before.

[Rmoore]

Hi Jon,

The tracks that are different (if only very slightly) are:

Softly as I Leave You - One single phrase is different
One Day - The Stereo version released on More Heartbreakers is an alternate take
From Russia - Completely different vocal take
Start Living - The version previously on CD (the album version) cuts to a different take towards the end.
How Do You Do - Cut from two takes - the single cuts to the different take earlier than the previously released stereo version
Love Song - Original single version is edited to half the length of the version on the Rare Monro.

Richard