Rating:
Genre:
R&B
Release Date: 06/07/1994
Run Time: 77:45
It took quite a while for a definitive
Barry White compilation to hit the market, but
All-Time Greatest Hits -- part of
Mercury's Funk Essentials series -- finally filled the bill in 1995. Boasting a full 20 tracks from
White's heyday of 1973-1978, more than half of which made the
R&B Top Ten,
All-Time Greatest Hits is easily the most generous single-disc
White collection on the market. It includes the edited single versions, not the full-length album tracks, which actually makes for a more digestible introduction to
White's achievements. Like his forebear
Isaac Hayes,
White was not just a deep-voiced crooner, but a talented producer and arranger who'd spent years honing his craft behind the scenes in the industry. And like
Hayes,
White spent a great deal of time setting up moods on his albums, using lush, sweeping orchestrations to build very gradually to climaxes. (Actually, that probably explains a good deal of his effectiveness.) But
White was not simply a
Hayes disciple; his swirling productions were less complex than
Hayes', but more in tune with the emerging
disco sound, which certainly boosted his popularity. Plus, he took full advantage of
R&B's new lyrical permissiveness in the wake of
Marvin Gaye's
Let's Get It On. If his voice was limited, it was also a tremendous asset for the kind of music he recorded -- deep, resonant, caressing, but always suggestively masculine. The total package made
White an
R&B love-man icon not just for the
disco era, but all time. For all but the most dedicated fans,
All-Time Greatest Hits is one-stop shopping.
~Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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