Bonnie Tyler Album: “Definitive Collection [Bonus CD]”

This compilation focuses on Bonnie's eighties music recorded for CBS, but her four UK hits for RCA (Lost in France, More than a love, It's a heartache, Married men) are also included under license. So this collection contains all of Bonnie's UK hits, plus a selection of her other tracks from the eighties.

Apart from the RCA hits already mentioned (two of which made the UK top ten), Bonnie's other UK hits to be found here are Total eclipse of the heart (a number one hit), A rocking good way (a top five hit duet with Shaking Stevens), Holding out for a hero (a number two hit) and three minor hits, these being Have you ever seen the rain (a cover of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic), Faster than the speed of night and Loving you is a dirty job.

Also here is Bonnie's original recording of The best. Generally known as Simply the best, it completely missed the charts, but Tina Turner covered the song a year later and had a major international hit with it. Another song that you may be familiar with is To love somebody. Originally written and recorded by the Bee Gees, the song has been a hit for several different singers around the world. Nina Simone (in 1969) and Jimmy Somerville (in 1990) both took it into the UK top ten.

There are many Bonnie Tyler compilations to choose from. I wouldn't describe this as the strongest but it contains all the essential tracks that most people expect and it is reasonably priced.

At a time when most divas sound like crying infants, it is refreshing to hear the leather-lunged vocals of Bonnie Tyler. Tyler combines the crispness of Rod Stewart with the brawn of The Dave Clark Five's Mike Smith and the tenderness of Petula Clark to form a terrific vocal package.

Tyler's brawn shines brightest in Total Eclipse Of The Heart and Holding On For A Hero. Eclipse is a duet for which credit should have been given to the unidentified singer who helps Tyler along. Hero is a NASCAR-fast raver (even using the melody of an NFL Films riff used by MRN to open its broadcasts) that leaves the listener exhausted at conclusion.

Tyler downshifts to tenderness in It's A Heartache and Lovers Again. Here her brawn comes through again, though tempered. Complain if you will that she comes on too strongly; she nonetheless does well.

Faster Than The Speed Of Night combines a Meat Loaf-flavored melody (not surprising given that the song's writer, Jim Steinman, also penned for ML) with Queen-style guitar and backing vocals mixed with Supertramp-influenced piano. And it rocks.

Though it takes awhile to get used to many of the songs on this album, it's still worth a listen.

I love this cd and the artist. Bonnie Tyler is a great voice that is just wonderful to listen to.

Some songs are super but some of them are not. Even though some songs are "old-fashioned" I liked that. It's inevitable that some of the compositions are less dynamic than leading ones, which is why you could skip some songs.

Not sure if this is the definitive "greatest hits" but it certainly includes most of them. "Total Eclipse of the Heart", "Best" (even better than Tina Turner's version), "Holding Out for a Hero", "Lost in France", and the BeeGee's "To Love Somebody" are all great songs, with great hooks and superb wordplay. The highlight for me, though, is "It's a Heartache" -- really shows off one of the greatest voices ever in rock and roll -- Tyler really delivers the pain and anquish and hopelessness of a jilted lover in a way few vocalists could. Sadly, I understand that Bonnie Tyler retired some years ago and has not recorded any music in years. Too bad, although that's probably a good reason to have this record.