I bought this CD to replace the vinyl copy I had that I could not play anymore[technology marches on]. This was the record that launched Barry Manilow into the flurry of Hits for the 70's and 80's. If you are a newcomer to Manilow this would be a good starting point. I am a true fan of the "Schmaltzy" Manilow type hits. I have enjoyed other Manilow CDs but this is one of my all time favorites. The best cut is "Avenue C". It shows the true range of talent of this underestimated performer. There many people that do not like Manilow and they won't like this CD either. BUT, if you "found" Manilow in the 80's you'll like his second album.

It may be unhip to like Barry Manilow but there's no denying that he writes gorgeous melodies and there's an abundance of these on his second album, the album which gave him his first smash hit, "Mandy". Perhaps unsurprisingly, my favourites are the non-hit tracks - "I Want To Be Somebody's Baby", "Early Morning Stranger", "The Two Of Us", "Sandra" (definitively covered by Dusty Springfield in 1978), and "Halfway Over the Hill" - rather than the singles which have become overfamiliar. The arrangements, production values and sound quality on "Barry Manilow II" are all pretty terrific. Where Manilow falters is on "My Baby Loves Me", a jazz influenced soul ballad which Martha and the Vandellas had a big hit with in the 60s. There's just no comparison. Still, "Barry Manilow II" is an excellent album". I'll be checking out "Barry Manilow I" next.

Barry himself calls this album a "milestone," and "Home Again" one of his all-time favorites (barrynet.com). It captured Barry's voice at its best, before repeated, large concerts and extended touring, and before he ended every other song by ratcheting up the key and volume. Some newer fans may not recognize the softer, gentler style, but the intimacy it creates between artist and listener is why this album made me a life-long fan.

First of all this album is one of my favourites from Manilows huge body of work. Like all of his albums in the seventies it relies on his diversity as a singer, producer, arranger and song writer. There are so many styles and surprises yet it still works as an album. Mandy as to be one of the biggest influences in pop music. Manilow virtuallyinvented the Power Ballad that countless artists from Whitney Houston to Aerosmith have subsequently had success with, yet no one apart from producers acknowledge this. What makes him unique is the ability to step outside the top forty and write introspective songs like 'TheTwo of Us' and 'Sandra', now the baggage of the seventy's has past, Manilow and his outstanding body of work can be revisted and given its proper place in the history of American music.

This is a compliment. The greatest hits are very nice with love song after love song, and the familiar piano verse and dramatic orchestra filled crescendo of the choruses. Here, there are songs that show another dimension to Manilow's songwriting he would lose when he became more romantic balladeering later. 'Sandra' is a fantastic song, with a gorgeous melody that builds without the cleches and has some lyrics about a housewife who is contemplating suicide. A gut wrenching performance. 'Home again' is also beautiful and deep. The melody is instantly likeable. 'The two of us' is extremely introspective and a third excellent stripped down ballad. Other excellent tracks are here including the upbeat 'somebody's baby', very catchy.
It's not all roses, as the awful 'Avenue C' proves, but is an excellent album nonetheless.