Dionne Warwick My Friends & Me CD

 A fun CD
I have read many people critical of this CD. I have to admit that this is definitely not Dionne at her best. With that out of the way, this is a fun CD. The original recordngs had all the powerful emotions-this is a retrospective with "friends" interpreting a living tribute. I have to admit the only reason that I purchased the CD is because of the duet with Olivia Newton-John, "Wishin' and hopin". This is really a fun song. I thought it was very gracious of Dionne to allow Olivia to sing most of this song with some harmony and backup. I also like the duet with Cyndi Lauper. Other than these two songs, I would not have bothered buying this.
Submitted by tbates5339 (Indianapolis, IN USA)
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 Ok she's not Vikki Carr but I still love Dionne too!
This woman deserves credit for making Burt Bacharach who he is. I love the salsa song with Ms. Cruz (another latin superstar)and I wish Dionne lots of luck with this CD. I would put Vikki and Dionne on the same pedestal but hear very little about Vikki so sad, maybe with her CD now, the world will hear her again. Keep singing Dionne! Prayers and love to Whitney too.
Submitted by Katie (Hong Kong)
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 What has happened???
I was so excited getting this CD in the mail along with my Vikki Carr CD, and yet Dionne's voice is shot. How could Concord release this and yet I see nothing from them with Vikki Carr? At least Vikki has the voice and the fan base. Check out the reviews for Vikki's Ultimate Collection. Whoever is making decisions at Concord needs to clean their ears out. It amazes me how Dionne and Concord could let this be released....I think I will boycott this label until Vikki Carr appears on this label and wows them all with her golden heavenly voice, still perfect, I just went to her sold out show in Bow Washington (both shows sold out) Vikki can still sing and wonderfully!
Submitted by Adam (Bellingham, WA USA)
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 Dionne's Swansong
A legend. There's no doubt about it. But during the last couple of years her once golden voice have declined a lot due to her obsessive smoking, and it shows BIG time on this record. Many of the duets are lovely (especially "I'll Never Love This Again" with gal pal Gladys Knight), but otherwise, Dionne's voice just isn't there. Her pitch is all over the place, and her frog-like croaking actually borders the "has been" line. Dionne is by no means a has been, but the state her voice is in is bound to break the hearts of many Dionne followers.
Submitted by Mandinka (Europe)
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 NICE TRY, BUT SOMETHING'S MISSING
This latest effort by the dazzing Dionne into her recorded history and remaking it again, hits and misses for me. Granted, Dionne is a living legend and celebrating 45 years in show business. Her style is still impecable. Her class beyond description. A fun duets package, yes, but choice of material not totally up to par for this long-time fan. The original project was suppose to be a double-CD as described a few years ago with one disc being female song partners (as this edition is) and the second CD being with male song partners. I would have waited until it was all done. However, if this does well, the follow-up will be the male duets album. I do not like rap personally, and I think it should've been left off WINDOWS OF THE WORLD. The three ladies that sing with Dionne do an amazing job, but the rap could've been left off. I do not like the hip-hop sound on THEN CAME YOU. That should have remained Classic Soul. I'm surprised Deja Vu did not have a duet partner, as I was expecting it to have one. Would've loved Anita Baker to join Dionne on this one. I could not recognize Gloria Estefan on WALK ON BY until well into the chorus. Someone on the team needs to realize that RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD, CLOSE TO YOU and LOVE WILL FIND A WAY were not hits for Dionne. Close To You was a B-side that charted briefly, and oversighted until The Carpenters took it to Number 1 in 1970. Raindrops will always be former Scepter label-mate BJ Thomas's song, and though Love Will Find A Way was on a very overlooked Dionne album (1993's under-promoted masterpiece FRIENDS CAN BE LOVERS), it was never a single in this country or elsewhere (that I'm aware of) even with the duet partner of cousin, Whitney Houston at the time. It is lovely that Dionne sings with her granddaughter Cheyenne on this track, but it doesn't have the punch of the original. The other two songs should have been substituted with other hits Dionne had from Scepter or Arista like You'll Never Get To Heaven, A House Is Not A Home, Heartbreaker, No Night So Long, etc. The true standouts are I'LL NEVER LOVE THIS WAY AGAIN with Gladys Knight, which should be the first radio single. It is beautifully done. MESSAGE TO MICHAEL follows it beautifully with Cyndi Lauper's soulful approach and Di's new take. I was a big fan of the salsa version of DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE when it was first done with Celia Cruz on Dionne's 1998 remake DIONNE SINGS DIONNE, and has been made even hotter here with more spice in the arrangement, Dionne's new vocal and a remix of Celia's original vocal letting us know she is not forgotten. This updated version could really be a dance club hit in this version, and in an alternate remix to be extended past 6 minutes (should it be considered). It is a nice effort, and for Dionne devotees, a must. Everyone else will have to make their own decision. I'm afraid most will stick with the original classic songs on many Best Of's out there.
Submitted by Bill B (Cranford, NJ)
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