Melts the ladies' hearts

The excellent ballad hits "The Old Songs" and "Somewhere Down The Road" highlight this CD, which Barry calls "one of the most romantic" he ever made. Back in 1981, when I was only two, I was disappointed at the slow-fast song ratio here (8-2). But after further review, this disc has held up very well; and unlike some of the Man's other records of the era, is clunker-free.

"Let's Hang On," a remake of a 1960's Four Seasons hit and one of those two fast songs, surprised me by becoming a third Top 40 single from this album. As a fan I enjoy it, but I always felt the production (with non-state-of-the-art synthesizer and "24 Background Vocals" all by Barry) gave this the feel of a throwaway novelty song compared to most of the pop hits of early 1982. And when an uptempo song didn't get played on Y-100 Miami, you knew something was amiss.

My other favorites here are "Break Down The Door" and "Don't Fall In Love With Me." Many would also recommend the ultradramatic title track, which for me goes way over the edge. Enjoyable detail to listen for: Barry's rare, perhaps one-of-a-kind, falsetto note at the end of "Fools Get Lucky."

The remastering helps "The Old Songs" immensely; on vinyl the vocals sounded like B. was singing from deep in an echo chamber. The bonus track, like all the bonus tracks in the "Barry Manilow Masters" series, is very good. "You're Runnin' Too Hard" is a funky rock tune in which Barry warns a (most likely male) friend on the rebound that he's wearing himself out partying and overcompensating for his loneliness. Likely it was left off the original album because it didn't/doesn't fit the smoochy mood of the other tracks.

Note to Babyface and L.A. Reid: In 1982, this record was followed by an EP (4-song album) whose title track, "Oh Julie," remains Barry's only Top 40 hit never to be issued on CD anywhere. That fall, Barry releaed "Here Comes The Night," which Arista has not reissued on CD. Although that album has two of the most embarrassing songs Barry Manilow has ever recorded ("Some Girls" and "I Wanna Do It With You," the latter amazingly his only Top 10 in the U.K.), it also includes the great title track, "Getting Over Losing You" co-written by Martin Briley, and the hits "Some Kind Of Friend" and "Memory". With "Oh Julie" and "Heaven" from the EP as bonus tracks, "Here Comes The Night" would be a sure sale to me. Just thinking out loud. Well, not really out loud as I'm typing...

These old songs sure bring back old times!

I have to agree with the previous review. I was also two years old when this album first came out, and "The Old Songs" has to be the first ever Barry Manilow song I ever heard on the radio at that time. Even as of today I still get goosebumps or all choked up when I hear that song because it's absolutely timeless.
This album has lots of touching, yet heartfelt tracks on this album that just move me to tears when I listen to it. You almost need to have a hankie at the end.
If breaking up is hard to do for you, I highly recommend this album.

Very Pretty Album!

I enjoy this one...its really what good music is about.