Complete Emi Recordings 1971-1984

This is probably a collection for someone who is a big Matt Monro fan and wants to have as much of Matt's catalog as possible. But, I think if you're looking at this, you're probably that type of fan! I've read some of the other reviews and agree this collection is not a "best" of and doesn't represent when Matt was enjoying his biggest chart success BUT... this collection DOES contain some of my favorite Matt Monro performances! Listen to Matt's version of "Singin' in the Rain" which starts off lush and transitions to swinging up-tempo! Matt's version of "Didn't We" is, in my opinion not only THE best version but one of HIS best recordings. "Speak Softly Love" puts Andy Williams to shame and songs like "I Am" and "Curiouser and Curiouser" have me hitting the back button to hear them over and over again. The long and short of it is, there are some fantastic Matt Monro performances and if you're anything more than just a casual fan it is worth picking up for two reasons. The first, is the Monro estate has managed to constantly put out quality releases and that only happens with fan support. The second is I have too often seen some great release come up for one of my favorite artists, where I held off on purchasing just to see those release become unavailable. So get it NOW while you can.

When Matt Monro finished his late-60’s Capitol stint for EMI in America, he went home and resumed recording for the conglomerate's UK labels. There he started a difficult decade for easy-listening artists, producing four albums with lousy cover art, mish-mashed track lineups (including vocals from ten years before), and even occasionally careless engineering. Nevertheless, they (along with his non-album singles) included some of the most exquisitely beautiful recordings of the century, as the remastering here by Richard Moore further attests. The impulse to discover and promote the "complete" recordings of deceased entertainers is understandable, but their legacies are better served through curation rather than piling on purposely unreleased tracks that they themselves may have preferred were never heard. (Also, even Matt Monro had a few misfires that did make it out of the studio.) However, for historical reasons this album does serve a purpose, and it's worth wading through some rocky shoals to experience the euphoria bestowed by the vast majority of the tracks.

If you have a good quality stereo system, at this recording will definitely make it come alive. Mastering of this record is second to none! Absolute delight!

The set collects the studio recordings from the last dozen or so years of Matt Monro’s career. It includes the contents of four LPs and numerous singles. Monro was a very fine singer, but this 4-CD compilation is not as good as I'd hoped. Monro sings as well as ever here, but much of what he was given to sing during this period leaves a lot to be desired. Most are numbers that were new when recorded, but little, if at all, heard since. The ‘70s were hardly the best time for classic popular song, such as had proliferated during the 1920s through the 1960s on the Broadway stage and the motion picture screen. But there’s no reason, other than a commercial one, for a performer as good as Monro to have sung the passel of banal offerings heard on THE COMPLETE EMI RECORDINGS 1971-1984. What, after all, can one do with 'You Light Up My Life'; or with 'Mama Packed a Picnic Tea', the latter perhaps the lowest point of Monro's output? Surprisingly disappointing are the arrangements backing Monro. The arrangers are good, but, as with the songs, the arrangements they have fashioned are undistinguished. I suspect that in many cases the problem is not with the orchestrations per se, but with rhythm sections that over-emphasize quasi-rock backbeats (and, all too often, whining guitars). I don’t know if it would have been possible to tone down the too-loud percussion when the tracks were being remixed, but as it is the wearyingly repetitious rhythmic backdrops made it impossible for me to listen to two discs from this set in immediate succession. Maybe I’m just too finicky. Here we have more than eighty selections that highlight Monro’s musical gifts. A lot of his fans will consider that to be enough. But for me, when in a Monrovian mood, I’d prefer to choose a few dozen songs from Monro’s recordings of the 1960s, when the quality of the compositions was generally higher and the rhythm sections were kept in check.