....never really followed Donna until a few months ago. I'm more into current dance/house music. However, at a wedding reception, they played 'Last Dance'....well I began exploring her music a little further, and here is the newest release! I absolutely love it, but then I found the Anthology CD (1993) and it's much better- same material as this release but the edits are longer, plus there's even more of 'the very best' on the Anthology.
Anyhoo, not a bad buy for $12, I've bought four more albums since this one...Donna's awesome! This release is good for listeners who aren't too familiar with her (like I was)...it's a nice snapshot of her overall music career, and the liner notes and bio inside the cover pretty much give you a nice briefing. Her 70s music is much better than her 80s stuff....check out her albums "Love to Love You Baby" "Four Seasons of Love" and "Love Trilogy"....makes you want to envision disco balls and everyone packing the dancefloor in their platform shoes and big hair!
Buy it! I'm collecting everything the woman has done.
With the countless Donna Summer compilations around, you would think that Universal would opt for a compilation that would give fans something more than what they already have. This compilation once again features the heavily cut versions of songs. It's main attraction is the inclusion (on the Australian and UK edition only) of the hard to find single "Theme from the Deep". Overall, the best part of this CD is the second disc which includes the 12 inch version of "Love to Love You Baby" which is great to have. The other extended mixes on this disc are ok, although not sure why they included the patrick Cowley remix of "I feel love" over the original 12" mix.
My advice to anyone considering buying this, is to pass over this, and look at the more recent double CD titled "Donna Summer: Gold", it is truly amazing. It contains longer versions of most of the key singles, and features the correct single version of "love to love you baby". GOLD is worth every single penny ... and shows that record companies sometimes get it right.
I have bought her other compilations and greatest hits--but this is the best and most comprehensive! As a longtime listener of Donna Summer since 1978, she made some unbelievable songs, not just for disco, but for other genres as well. All the hits, from Last Dance, to my favorite On the Radio, to Dim All The Lights to Bad Girls to Hot Stuff, to Hard For the Money, to This Time I Know It's For Real (yes I followed Donna in '89!) are on here. Donna and Giorgio Moroder were the Lennon/McCartney of the late '70s, an excellent pairing and an endless run of hits! And I love the two new songs she did in 2003. It shows her willingness to move forward as a singer. I like the new disco-based song that she did. I like that Donna moved forward when most of the other disco stars faded in the '80s. Would have liked one song from her '87 album (Dinner With Gershwin) on Geffen, but you can't get everybody. This is better than Endless Summer from 10 years ago, only more this time! I played this album this summer on the interstate in New Mexico on a road trip! And you need to have this album in your collection! Excellent dance floor music!!!!!!
Although some fans may be dismayed at yet another Donna Summer compilation, this one is different. Universal has remastered the tracks for the best sounding compilation ever. The standard CD includes 2 new tracks, "That's The Way" and "I Will Live For Love". The limited edition release includes a bonus CD with remastered 12" versions of "I Feel Love" and "This Time I Know It's For Real", as well as a remix of "I Will Live For Love" and the underground hit "You're So Beautiful".
A word to those aforementioned "fans" who feel that they have been ripped off by Ms. Summer - the RECORD LABEL puts out the compilations, not the artist. This is the first time in a decade that Ms. Summer had anything to do with a compilation being released. Universal is to be commended for this remastered gem as well as the remastered Bad Girls which was released this summer. Universal also listened to the fans and included "You're So Beautiful" at the last minute. The success of these two releases will dictate whether Universal remasters the rest of Donna Summer's extensive catalog as well as whether they will re-sign her to a Universal label (she left Sony in the wake of the Mottola departure).
In September of 2003, Donna Summer released her twenty-seventh album entitled, THE JOURNEY: THE VERY BEST OF DONNA SUMMER. This is, yet, another great album by the Queen of Disco, despite the fact that it is missing a few tracks here, a few tracks there. But still a great compilation.
LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY
From the album LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY (1975). Still a great song.
COULD IT BE MAGIC
From the album A LOVE TRILOGY (1976). Just simply an amazing cover. It's a song that I could really dance to.
I FEEL LOVE
From the album I REMEMBER YESTERDAY (1977). An amazing song. I love it's Disco-vibe.
I LOVE YOU
From the album ONCE UPON A TIME...(1977). Great song.
LAST DANCE
From the original motion picture & motion picture soundtrack THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY (1978). Still a classic after all of these years.
MacARTHUR PARK
From the single MacARTHUR PARK (1978). Great song. This is definitely a song that I could really dance to.
HEAVEN KNOWS
From the single HEAVEN KNOWS (1978). Another great Disco song.
HOT STUFF
From the album BAD GIRLS (1979). This is, yet, another great song, with it's Rock-Disco combination.
BAD GIRLS
From the album BAD GIRLS (1979). Awesome.
DIM ALL THE LIGHTS
From the album BAD GIRLS (1979). Great song.
NO MORE TEARS (ENOUGH IS ENOUGH) (performed by Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer)
Original version from Barbra Streisand's album WET (1979). Still the best Diva Duet in the history of music.
ON THE RADIO
From the album ON THE RADIO: GREATEST HITS VOLUMES I & II (1979). Awesome song. I could definitely tear up the dance floor with this track.
THE WANDERER
From the album THE WANDERER (1980). Another great song, with Donna Summer leaving Disco behind.
LOVE IS IN CONTROL (FINGER ON THE TRIGGER)
From the album DONNA SUMMER (1982). Awesome tune.
STATE OF INDEPENDENCE
From the album DONNA SUMMER (1982). Awesome tune.
SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY
From the album SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY (1983). Great song.
THIS TIME I KNOW IT'S FOR REAL
From the album ANOTHER PLACE AND TIME (1989). I'll never forget the day when I first heard this song. The minute I heard it, I instantly fell in love with it. This is one of Donna Summer's great dance tunes of the '80s.
I WILL GO WITH YOU (CON TE PARTIRO)
From the album VH1 PRESENTS DONNA SUMMER: LIVE AND MORE: ENCORE! (1999). An awesome song. I must have listened to this one at least ten times.
THAT'S THE WAY
Previously unreleased. Great.
DREAM-A-LOT'S THEME (I WILL LIVE FOR LOVE)
Previously unreleased. Great.
Even though I am asking myself, "How many 'Greatest Hits' compilations can someone have?", this compilation is still very amazing, even though the compilation is missing the following: "Spring Affair", "I Remember Yesterday", "Our Love", "Once Upon A Time", "Rumour Has It", "Sunset People", "Cold Love", "Unconditional Love" (performed by Donna Summer & Musical Youth), "There Goes My Baby", "Supernatural Love", "All Systems Go", "I Don't Want To Get Hurt", "Love's About To Change My Heart", "When Love Cries", "Friends Unknown", & "Carry On". But still a great compilation.
