20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tom Jones

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Grandfather though he may be, Tom Jones still stalks the stages of the world clad in a tuxedo, the very personification of testosterone-fueled cool. Thanks to a career made mostly on the stage, where women continue to pelt him with undergarments, his image is well defined. His recorded legacy is somewhat more diffuse, though, as this set amply proves. There's torrid main-room Vegas fare such as "It's Not Unusual," "Delilah," and "She's a Lady," plus the coy "What's New Pussycat" and the bombastic Bond theme, "Thunderball." But Jones also scored, somewhat surprisingly, with country-flavored material such as "Green, Green Grass of Home" and "Detroit City." Like the other 20th Century Masters sets, this one is inferior to a previously existing greatest-hits package--in Jones's case, the 1998 Best of Tom Jones. Compared to that more generous collection, there's not enough here to get your panties in a bunch, much less make you want to wing them at Mr. Jones. --Daniel Durchholz

Tracks:

It's Not Unusual
What's New Pussycat
Thunderball
Detroit City
Green, Green Grass Of Home
(It Looks Like) I'll Never Fall In Love Again
Delilah
Love Me Tonight
Without Love (There Is Nothing)
Daughter Of Darkness
She's A Lady
I (Who Have Nothing)

Amazon.com

Grandfather though he may be, Tom Jones still stalks the stages of the world clad in a tuxedo, the very personification of testosterone-fueled cool. Thanks to a career made mostly on the stage, where women continue to pelt him with undergarments, his image is well defined. His recorded legacy is somewhat more diffuse, though, as this set amply proves. There's torrid main-room Vegas fare such as "It's Not Unusual," "Delilah," and "She's a Lady," plus the coy "What's New Pussycat" and the bombastic Bond theme, "Thunderball." But Jones also scored, somewhat surprisingly, with country-flavored material such as "Green, Green Grass of Home" and "Detroit City." Like the other 20th Century Masters sets, this one is inferior to a previously existing greatest-hits package--in Jones's case, the 1998 Best of Tom Jones. Compared to that more generous collection, there's not enough here to get your panties in a bunch, much less make you want to wing them at Mr. Jones. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews:

Great Songs!.......2007-01-06

A Wonderful collection of Tom Jone's greatest hits.Bought it for myself but my fourteen year old daughter swiped it !

Tom Jones CD.......2006-03-20

Great assortment of his best hits. Brings back many memories. Great voice. Too bad he quit.

S-e-x-y.......2006-03-16

A must for nostalgic fans who remember ole swivel hips from decades gone by. Ladies of the flower-children era, take note: "Daughter of Darkness" takes me right back to the sixties when they had full orchestras backing wonderful singers regardless of genre. "Help Me Make It Through the Night" makes me feel like a groupie. "I Who Have Nothing" is a gem that I had completely forgotten. What a voice! What a visual to the mind!

fantastic showcase for a superb voice.......2004-09-22

Tom Jones' sumptuous, expressive voice is simply astonishing in this collection that includes many of my favorites...in fact the only Jones favorite of mine that is missing from this compilation is "With These Hands"...all the others are here: "Thunderball", "(It looks Like) I'll Never Fall in Love Again", "Delilah", "The Green, Green Grass of Home", and many more that delight the ears and give one a sense of nostalgia for the days when music like this was popular.

Tom Jones burst on the music scene in 1965 with "It's Not Unusual" written by the man who "discovered" him, Gordon Mills, and from then on, the road was paved with gold for Jones and Mills, and in 1971, Paul Anka's "She's a Lady" gave him his biggest U.S. hit.
This is a terrific compilation (with only one song I don't care for, "Daughter of Darkness"), and is sure to please the Welsh Wonder's fans.

The sound is good, and total playing time is 37'26, not including the many times I hit the "repeat" button to hear his thrilling rendition of "(It Looks Like) I'll Never fall in Love Again".

Five years represented - a great five years.......2003-09-27

For something called "The Millennium Collection" you'd expect something...unusual. Still, we get the rare chance to get "Thunderball" included along with the other expected hits on this 12-tuner. (It seems scarce to me other than on big collections). I would not have purchased this cassette if that incredible movie theme was not used here.
Tom Jones ofcourse is one of the very few pop singers who has a *great voice* - meaning he's got pipes and he knows how to use 'em. Jackie Wilson, Roy Orbison, and Elvis (when he felt like it) could move mountains with one note, which any seasoned Opera singer could envy, but Tom sang just about every note with mind-boggling intensity. Sometimes that intensity covered a lack of emotional depth - listen to the country-based "Detroit City" or the Clyde McPhatter/Little Richard ballad classic "Without Love (There Is Nothing)" - Tom just enjoys his craft and paying homage to his forerunners. On both tunes the spoken part comes off a little shallow. But when he gets into the verse...it's forgotten.
The aforementioned "Thunderball" is a supreme example of a power ballad as perfomed by TJ. His breath control, vibrato, and phrasing is quite astonishing.
There are two purely *pop* items, the after-hours-juke-box number "Daughter Of Darkness", and the very well-known "She's A Lady", a melodic Paul Anka composition given full attention by Tom. The lyric has lost some resonance by 2000, though.
Another personal favorite is "Love Me Tonight" another quintessential "beat ballad": the build-up to the closing note is amazing.
"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" by Donegan/Currie is presumed to be based in part on the old song "Wanderin'" by Kaye and it certainly succeeds as a rewrite. (Fans dig his performance on "The Music Scene" (MPI videocassette).
"It's Not Unusual" is always fun (another footnote: dig the Dells' original on Vee Jay - "Forty Years Of Vee Jay Hits" CD box set).
And how could I forget the first Tom Jones single I bought - "What's New Pussycat". It's a big, bold statement, a rockin' waltz, full of sass and swagger. I was in my first stage as an Elvis Presley fan at that time, but El's current output had almost nothing like this. Maybe Elvis felt the same way - when he returned to Vegas in '69 there was a decided increase in his decibel level on stage. (By the way, for you EP diehards, yes, Presley's version of "Without Love" was actually better).
When it's all said and done, Tom managed to get Country and Soul noticed by the ladies in the 30+ group. And he did it with plenty of flash...and talent.

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tom Jones (Eco-Friendly Packaging)

Average customer rating:

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tom Jones (Eco-Friendly Packaging)
Tom Jones
Manufacturer: Polydor / Umgd
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Welsh Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000NA1ZS8
Release Date: 2007-03-13

Tracks:

It's Not Unusual
What's New Pussycat? [From the Film What's New Pussycat?]
Thunderball [From the Film Thunderball]
Detroit City
Green, Green Grass of Home
(It Looks Like) I'll Never Fall in Love Again
Delilah
Love Me Tonight
Without Love (There Is Nothing)
Daughter of Darkness
She's a Lady
I (Who Have Nothing)

Album Description

The 20th Century Masters series is the best-selling single-artist line in music history and is being re-released by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) in its ground-breaking, environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) will be completely paper-recyclable, continuing the company's long-standing commitment to being "green."

To further reduce the amount of paper in the Eco-Pack, the CD booklet will no longer be offered. Official liner notes are easily accessible on the Internet at http://www.ilovethatsong.com/green.

UMe is the first North American music company to replace the traditional jewel case with recycled paperboard sleeves and the plastic tray with trays made from PaperFoam®, a new packaging technology from Shorewood Packaging, a business of International Paper, that is paper-recyclable and biodegradable. Shorewood Packaging is the first North American packaging supplier to produce disc trays from PaperFoam®.

Music:

Music

Music