Tuesday, November 17, 1998

Garth Brooks Double Live released

Double Live

Garth Brooks

Released: November 17, 1998

Recorded: 1996-1998

Peak: 15 US, 18 CW, 57 UK, 11 CN, 43 AU

Sales (in millions): 23.0 US *, 0.06 UK, 23.66 world (includes US and UK)

* The album shipped 11.5 million in the United States, but was certified for 23 million because it was a double album.

Genre: country

Tracks, Disc 1:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts.

  1. Callin’ Baton Rouge (9/18/93, 70 CW)
  2. Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House (2/9/91, 1 CW)
  3. Shameless (10/19/91, 1 CW)
  4. Papa Loved Mama (2/1/92, 3 CW)
  5. The Thunder Rolls (5/18/91, 1 CW)
  6. We Shall Be Free (9/12/92, 12 CW)
  7. Unanswered Prayers (11/3/90, 1 CW)
  8. Standing Outside the Fire (9/18/93, 3 CW, 28 UK)
  9. Longneck Bottle (with Steve Wariner, 11/22/97, 1 CW)
  10. It’s Your Song * (11/14/98, 9 CW, 47a US)
  11. Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old (3/25/89, 8 CW)
  12. The River (5/2/92, 1 CW)
  13. Tearin’ It Up and Burnin’ It Down * (12/5/98, 63 CW)

Tracks, Disc 2:

  1. Ain’t Going Down ‘Til the Sun Comes Up (8/7/93, 1 CW)
  2. Rodeo (8/17/91, 3 CW)
  3. The Beaches of Cheyenne (12/9/95, 1 CW)
  4. Two Pina Coladas (12/6/97, 1 CW)
  5. Wild As the Wind * (with Trisha Yearwood, 12/5/98, 65 CW)
  6. To Make You Feel My Love (5/16/98, 1 CW, 8 AC)
  7. That Summer (5/8/93, 1 CW)
  8. American Honky-Tonk Bar Association (9/11/93, 1 CW)
  9. If Tomorrow Never Comes (9/9/89, 1 CW)
  10. The Fever (11/25/95, 23 CW)
  11. Friends in Low Places (8/18/90, 1 CW)
  12. The Dance (5/5/90, 1 CW, 36 UK)

* These songs were new to this album; otherwise all the chart information above refers to the original studio releases of these songs.

Total Running Time: 100:11

Rating:

3.600 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings)

Awards:

(Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

With 18 #1 country songs in the 1990s, Garth Brooks established himself not only as the biggest country artist of the decade, but the biggest artist of the decade period. He already had the record for the biggest selling male solo artist. All that was left was “toppling the Beatles’ status as the best-selling artist of all time. A difficult task, to be sure, but one that was conceivably within Garth Brooks’ reach.” AMG

As the decade drew closer to its end, it became obvious that Brooks would shamelessly do whatever it took to reach that milestone. He released a box set called The Limited Series which repackaged his first six studio albums. He added one bonus track to each original album, forcing his fans to plunk down for a box set of albums they most likely owned already just to get six new songs. Back in 1994, he served a similar milk-the-fans-for-every-last-dollar album with The Hits, a collection which sold 10 million despite offering nothing new.

It’s hard not to see Double Live as another cash grab, especially since like The Limited Series, it is more than one disc which inflates sales figures. The album has been certified 23 times platinum, twice the 11.5 million shipped since it is a double album. Sales wise, however, it had sold only six million copies as of 2012. WK “The generic titles of both sets suggest that both albums shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than product, since Garth couldn’t be bothered to think of an actual title; he just called it what it is.” AMG

“The title alone isn’t what suggests that Double Live is product.” AMG There was also “the elaborate marketing plan – where the disc retails for the low price of $13.99 during the ‘holiday’ season, where the album has a different cover, photos and Brooks-penned liner notes every million copies pressed.” AMG On top of that, “the cassette has completely different artwork than the CD [which] ensures that he’ll move as many units as possible in as short a time as possible…Initial reports suggested that Brooks, his label EMI, and his favorite retailer, Wal-Mart, planned to move a million copies in one week.” AMG It worked. Double Live sold 1,085,000 copies in its first week, passing the first-week sales record previously held by Pearl Jam’s Vs. WK

To be fair, “Double Live is a professionally entertaining album with a few nice bonuses – including extra verses for Friends in Low Places and The Thunder Rolls…but much of this record is either identical to the studio counterparts or offers nothing new whatsoever.” AMG

There are three new songs – “the dedicated-to-mama It’s Your Song,” AMG the Trisha Yearwood duet Wild as the Wind which was intended for a duets album with Yearwood, and “the rocker Tearin’ It Up (And Burnin’ It Down)” AMG which was originally planned for Brooks’ 1997 album Sevens. WK

Brooks also employs the all-too common trick of cleaning up “live” recordings in the studio. “It’s clear that the intros to Two Pina Coladas, The River and We Shall Be Free are pasted on in the studio – and even when the crowd intrudes on The Fever, it feels forced, not like the genuine kinetic energy that can be captured on a live recording.” AMG

It doesn’t help that the 25 songs are recorded on 25 different dates. “An album culled from such a wide variety of sources can’t help but feel patchwork…Despite the handful of new twists on familiar material, which will surely satisfy the diehards, Double Live simply isn’t that interesting for the average Garth fan. It’s the kind of record that’s hyped as an event upon its original release, but will be seen as little more than a curio a few years after its release.” AMG

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First posted 11/18/2008; last updated 11/15/2023.

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The Complete Wailers released

The Complete Wailers

The Wailers

Released: March 17, 1998

Recorded: 1967-1970

Charted: --

Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU

Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK)

Genre: reggae

Disc 1: Rock to the Rock (1968): *

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Rock to the Rock
  2. Steady
  3. How Many Times
  4. Touch Me
  5. Mellow Mood
  6. There She Goes
  7. Rebel
  8. Put It On
  9. Chances Are
  10. Love
  11. Bend Down Low
  12. The World Is Changing
  13. Nice Time (1967, --)
  14. Treat You Right
  15. What Goes Around Comes Around (6/8/96, 42 UK)

Total Running Time: 48:35

Disc 2: Selassie Is the Chapel (1968-1970): *

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Don’t Rock My Boat
  2. The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow
  3. Chances Are
  4. Selassie Is the Chapel
  5. Tread Oh
  6. Alright
  7. Rhythum
  8. Rocking Steady
  9. Adam and Eve
  10. Wisdom
  11. This Train
  12. Thank You Lord (6/81, --)
  13. Give Me a Ticket
  14. On the Road Again
  15. Black Progress

Total Running Time: 46:20

Disc 3: The Best of the Wailers (1969-1970): *

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Sugar, Sugar
  2. Stop the Train
  3. Cheer Up
  4. Soon Come
  5. Soul Captive
  6. Go Tell It on the Mountain
  7. Can't You See (alternate)
  8. Give Me a Ticket (alternate)
  9. Hold on to This Feeling
  10. Chatterbox (alternate)
  11. Soul Shakedown Party (9/70, --)

Total Running Time: 36:33

The Players:

  • Bob Marley
  • Peter Tosh
  • Bunny Wailer
  • Other vocalists: Junior Braithwaite, Cherry Smith, Beverley Kelso, Constantine “Vision” Walker, Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt
  • Musicians: Aston “Family Man” Barrett, Carlton Barrett, Earl Lindo, Tyrone Downie, Alvin “Seeco” Patterson, Al Anderson, Earl “Chinna” Smith, Donald Kinsey, Junior Marvin

Rating:

4.00 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)

Quotable: A “living testament to the birth of the legend.” – Vibe magazine

About the Album:

Marley’s pre-major-label work has been repackaged and regurgitated to the point of market suffocation. While it isn’t complete, as the title suggests, this three-disc collection, along with two other Jad/Koch box sets released in 1998-99, is is fairly definitive in covering “Marley’s first important signing outside the local scene,” VB< the span between Studio One (1963-66) and the Wailers’ major label debut in 1973. It “may be as close as we ever get to that elusive portrait of the world’s greatest reggae band.” AZ

“Compiled by Marley-ologist Roger Steffens, this exhaustive archive is the culmination of many years' work trying to get at Marley tunes which lay dormant in record company vaults around the world.” AMG The set includes “copious” VB but “hard-to-follow” AZ “liner notes by reggae historians Bruno Blum and Roger Steffens, rare photos, and unheard instrumental ‘versions.’” VB

Amazon.com says the collection is “hampered by clumsy packaging,” AZ while AllMusic.com calls it “impeccable.” AMG In any event, “these recordings sound light-years better than most of the scratchy, poorly recorded early Wailers material previously available.” AZ This is “a necessary addition to any Marley collection.” AMG Vibe calls it a “living testament to the birth of the legend.” VB

The first installment, covered on this page, consisted of a 3-CD box set “of 47 tracks, 28 of which were previously unreleased outside Jamaica.” VB “We discover… a band reaching to find its own voice.” AZ “The collection brims with the influence of old American soul, gospel, and R&B hits that were popular in Jamaica at the time.” VB The Wailers “only begin to hint at the soul power they would find in reggae.” AZ “Also included are early versions of original tunes that eventually became big hits.” VB

“Despite the tentative feel on many of these songs, the undeniable talent of the ‘proto’ Wailers is unmistakable. Rita Marley appears as the rock solid force supporting the platform from which Peter Tosh and Bob Marley sprung. Tosh, for his part, is the real surprise here, already showing the jaunty, take-no-prisoners delivery that made him so unique. Marley is all over the stylistic map – trying on pop, love songs, standards, anything to try to capture the sense of urgency that would later become the band’s hallmark. An interesting historical marker.” AZ

“Alternate versions and dub versions of well-known classics, plus a few previously unreleased tracks, make this a must-have for fans of this most fertile period for Jamaica's greatest trio. Previously hard-to-find gems like The Lord Will Make a Way, Tread Oh, Feel Alright and Rhythm are all included, plus many more. There’s even a cover of Sugar Sugar.” AMG

“Perhaps of greatest interest to longtime Marley fans is the release of Selassie Is the Chapel, which was first printed in 1968 on a tiny edition of only 26.” AMG

Notes: This was the first box set in a set of three covering the years 1967-1972 over 11 discs. The three discs in this collection (Rock to the Rock, Selassie Is the Chapel, and Best of the Wailers were also released individually. The latter, originally released in 1970, also included “Back Out and “Do It Twice,” which are not on this box set. Also – this collection included alternate versions of songs which are not covered in the track listings on this page.

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Last updated 5/6/2021.

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Monday, November 16, 1998

Mariah Carey: A Retrospective

Mariah Carey

A Retrospective

Overview:

Pop singer born 3/27/1970 in Huntington, Long Island, NY. Irish-American and Black-Venezuelan parentage. Referred to as the "Songbird Supreme" by the Guinness World Records, the 1990 Best New Artist Grammy winner is known for her five-octave vocal range. She is the only artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and is second only to the Beatles with 19 total chart-toppers. Her songs "One Sweet Day " (1995) and "We Belong Together" (2005) rank in the top 10 biggest #1 songs in the history of the Billboard charts.

Links:

Awards:

Studio Albums:

Compilations:

  • NO #1’s (covers 1990-98, released 1998)
Under each album snapshot, songs featured on the anthologies are noted. If the song charted, the date of the song’s release or first chart appearance and its chart peaks are noted in parentheses. Click for codes to charts.

Top 40 Songs

These are the top Mariah Carey songs as ranked by the DMDB. The codes beside the songs indicate which of the above albums the songs appear on. In addition, you can scroll farther down the page to see a snapshot of the individual albums with the singles from each indicated. The songs are again followed by the codes, but also for those songs that charted, the date of the song’s release or first chart appearance and its chart peaks are noted in parentheses.

1. We Belong Together (2005)
2. One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men, 1995)
3. Vision of Love (1990)
4. Fantasy (1995)
5. Hero (1993)
6. Dreamlover (1993)
7. Without You (1993)
8. Always Be My Baby (1995)
9. Love Takes Time (1990)
10. Someday (1990)

11. Emotions (1991)
12. I’ll Be There (live, 1992)
13. When You Believe (with Whitney Houston, 1998)
14. Anytime You Need a Friend (1994)
15. Make It Happen (1991)
16. I Don’t Wanna Cry (1990)
17. Can’t Let Go (1991)
18. Touch My Body (2008)
19. My All (1998)
20. All I Want for Christmas Is You (1994)

21. I Still Believe (1999)
22. Endless Love (with Luther Vandross, (1994)
23. Honey (1997)
24. Shake It Off (2005)
25. Heartbreaker (with Jay-Z, 1999)
26. Don’t Forget about Us (2005)
27. Thank God I Found You (with Joe & 98 Degrees, 1999)
28. Butterfly (1997)
29. It’s Like That (with Fatman Scoop, 2005)
30. Loverboy (with Cameo, 2001)

31. I Know What You Want (with Busta Rhymes & the Flipmode Squad, 2003)
32. I Want to Know What Love Is (2009)
33. Breakdown (with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, 1997)
34. Obsessed (2009)
35. Through the Rain (2002)
36. Forever (1995)
37. Bye Bye (2008)
38. Crybaby (with Snoop Dogg, 1999)
39. U Make Me Wanna (with Jadakiss, 2004)
40. Never Too Far (2001)

Mariah Carey (1990):

  • Vision of Love (6/2/90, 1 BB, 1 BA, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 1 AC, 1 RB, 9 UK, 1 CN, 9 AU, 4 DF, sales: 1.2 million, airplay: 2 million) NO
  • Love Takes Time (9/14/90, 1 BB, 1 BA, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 1 AC, 1 RB, 37 UK, 2 CN, 14 AU, 25 DF, sales: ½ million, airplay: 2 million) NO
  • Someday (1/11/91, 1 BB, 1 BA, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 5 AC, 3 RB, 38 UK, 1 CN, 44 AU, 21 DF, ½ million, airplay: 1 million) NO
  • I Don’t Wanna Cry (4/5/91, 1 BB, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 1 AC, 2 RB, 54 UK, 2 CN, 49 AU, 33 DF, airplay: 1 million) NO

About the Album:

Read more on the DMDB page for this album.

Emotions (1991):

  • Emotions (8/13/91, 1 BB, 1 BA, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 3 AC, 1 RB, 17 UK, 1 CN, 11 AU, 24 DF, sales: ½ million, airplay: 1 million) NO

About the Album:

Read more on the DMDB page for this album.

Music Box (1993):

  • Dreamlover (7/27/93, 1 BB, 1 BA, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 2 AC, 2 RB, 9 UK, 1 CN, 7 AU, 21 DF, sales: 1.5 million, airplay: 2 million) NO
  • Hero (10/15/93, 1 BB, 1 BA, 2 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 2 AC, 5 RB, 7 UK, 3 CN, 7 AU, 7 DF, sales: 3 million, airplay: 2 million) NO

About the Album:

Read more on the DMDB page for this album.

Daydream (1995):

  • Fantasy (9/8/95, 1 BB, 1 BA, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 8 AC, 1 RB, 4 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, 20 DF, sales: 3.5 million, airplay: 1 million) NO
  • One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men) (11/3/95, 1 BB, 1 BA, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 1 AC, 1 A40, 2 RB, 6 UK, 1 CN, 2 AU, 6 DF, sales: 3.75 million, airplay: 1 million) NO
  • Always Be My Baby (2/23/96, 1 BB, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 2 AC, 2 A40, 1 RB, 3 UK, 1 CN, 17 AU, 34 DF, sales: 5 million, airplay: 1 million) NO

About the Album:

Read more on the DMDB page for this album.

Butterfly (1997):

  • Honey (8/8/97, 1 BB, 6 GR, 10 RR, 3 UK, 1 CN, 8 AU, sales: 2 million) NO
  • My All (4/3/98, 1 BB, 12 GR, 15 RR, 18 AC, 4 RB, 4 UK, 28 CN, 39 AU, sales: 2 million) NO
  • Whenever You Call (with Brian McKnight) NO

About the Album:

Read more on the DMDB page for this album.

#1’s

Mariah Carey

Recorded: 1990-1998

Released: November 16, 1998

Peak: 4 US, 10 UK, 6 CN, 6 AU

Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 0.77 UK, 20.0 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: pop

Rating:

4.373 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Tracks: (1) Sweetheart (with Jermaine Dupri) (2) When You Believe (with Whitney Houston) (3) Whenever You Call (with Brian McKnight) (4) My All (5) Honey (6) Always Be My Baby (7) One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men) (8) Fantasy (9) Hero (10) Dreamlover (11) I’ll Be There (live with Trey Lorenz) (12) Emotions (13) I Don’t Wanna Cry (14) Someday (15) Love Takes Time (16) Vision of Love (17) I Still Believe

Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums:

  • I’ll Be There (live with Trey Lorenz) (5/15/92, 1 BB, 1 BA, 1 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 1 AC, 11 RB, 2 UK, 1 CN, 9 AU, 8 DF, sales: 0.9 million) NO
  • Sweetheart (9/19/98, 45a RB) NO
  • When You Believe (11/2/98, 15 BB, 28 RR, 3 AC, 37 A40, 33 RB, 4 UK, 20 CN, 13 AU, 31 DF, sales: 1.4 million) NO
  • I Still Believe (1/22/99, 4 BB, 19 RR, 8 AC, 3 RB, 16 UK, 9 CN, 54 AU, 32 DF, sales: 1 million) NO

About the Album:

Apparently, Mariah Carey doesn’t understand the term ‘greatest hits,’ witnessed by her claim “in the liner notes that #1’s is ‘not a greatest hits album! It’s too soon, I haven’t been recording long enough for that!’” AMG

Huh? “Between 1990’s Vision of Love and 1998’s My All, all but four commercially released singles (‘Anytime You Need a Friend,’ ‘Can't Let Go,’ ‘Make It Happen,’ ‘Without You’) hit number one, with only a handful of radio-only singles (‘Butterfly,’ ‘Breakdown’) making the airwaves, not the charts. That leaves 12 big hits on #1’s, all number ones.” AMG That seems as close to the definition of ‘greatest hits’ as one can get.

“Since Carey’s singles always dominated her albums, it comes as no surprise that #1’s is her best, most consistent album, filled with songs that represent state-of-the-art ‘90s adult contemporary and pop-oriented urban soul.” AMG

“That said, it isn’t a perfect overview – a couple of good singles are missing because of the self-imposed ‘#1 rule’; plus, the Ol’ Dirty Bastard mix of Fantasy is strong, but fans familiar with the radio single will be disappointed that the chorus is completely missing on this version.” AMG

“The album is also padded with a personal favorite (her Brian McKnight duet Whenever You Call, taken from Butterfly) and three new songs – the Jermaine Dupri-produced Sweetheart, the Whitney Houston duet When You Believe (taken from The Prince of Egypt soundtrack), and I Still Believe, a remake of a Brenda K. Starr tune – which are all fine, but not particularly memorable.” AMG

“Still, that’s hardly enough to bring down a thoroughly entertaining compilation that will stand as her best record until the ‘official’ hits collection is released.” AMG

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First posted 3/26/2008; last updated 5/13/2024.

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