This is a comprehensive double-CD collection of Dionne's AM radio hits from the 60's. I just as strongly recommend Dionne as the foremost interpreter of Burt Bachrach's music.

The sound quality is great. Rhino Records did a nice job, in this area, and the liner notes provide a good bit of information. Dionne's performances of these songs are flawless. She has great range and feeling, as well as subtlety and restraint. "Windows of the World," for example, sends a shiver up my spine. The hasty "San Jose'" is also a treat. The quantity of music presented is more than enough; you won't hear any 60's Warwick song on the radio not presented here, although this results in some unevenness. Burt Bachrach's composition is super.

I couldn't give it 5 stars because some of the musical arrangements don't hold up well, and probably sounded schlocky when they came out, even over the tinny radio speaker of a 1966 Ford Fairlane on its way to San Jose. But you know that going in. Lyricyst Hal David was most effective when he kept it spare and light ("Walk On By"), not when he tried to communicate socially "relevant" ideas (e.g. - "Message to Michael" - mobile society; "Windows of the World" - Vietnam). Not every song on the collection is to my taste. It's hard to find enough great material to fill a double greatest hits album, but most of this is quite good. Anyone who likes Dionne's 60's radio hits or needs a comprehensive sampling of Bachrach-David at their creative peak, should look here.

I have always been a great admirer of artists like James Taylor, The Carpenters, Carly Simon, Roberta Flack, and others, but I had never really been exposed to Dionne Warwick's earlier music (with the exceptions of songs like Walk On By, Say A Little Prayer, and I'll Never Fall In Love Again) until a desire to own a recording of Walk On By lead me to purchase this greatest hits CD. I didn't really have any expectations of this CD beyond the few songs that I knew I liked, but after listening to it just a couple a times, I was quite overwhelmed by it's significance and sheer beauty. I can say easily that this collection of music ranks among the best I have ever heard, and this includes the artists whom I mentioned above as well as others. I wonder that there may be others who are as unaware of this special music as I have been. Rarely have I had the great pleasure and honor to experience such beautiful expressions of romantic love and sorrow: Burt Bacharach and Hal David are poets of the human heart, and Dionne their voice. The music they've produced is unique, and at times, crushingly beautiful, and at times, breathtaking.

This CD has a hefty price tag but it's well worth it because it is the best single-disc compilation of Dionne's early work. It includes her renderings of the best known compositions from the Bacharach/David songbook including "Walk On By", "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "I Say A Little Prayer" and "Alfie". It also includes some wonderful near-miss hit singles like the exquisite "Looking With My Eyes", on which Dionne punctuates her delicate pop phrasing with some gospel shouting. "April Fools" showcases Dionne's interpretive gift -- the rare singer whose voice caresses both the melody and the lyric. You won't be disappointed.

This is a fantastic collection of Dionne Warwick's songs from 1962-1971, showcasing not only her distinct voice, but also the creative collaborations of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The CD illustrates the tremendous bond that lied between Warwick's vocal styling, and Bacharach and David's songs. The highlights include "Don't Make Me Over," "Anyone Who Had A Heart," "Walk On By," and "I Say A Little Prayer." The album is quite lengthy (24 tracks), including a few mediocre numbers here and there. That's why it earns four stars, rather than five. However, the album is a perfect illustration of a matching of a great voice with great music. This album is an excellent introduction for the younger generations who might have only been exposed to her sub-par eighties work. This album is essential to any collection of sixties music, as well as any collection of popular music.

All Burt Bacharach has to do is plink a little on the piano keys and Dionne Warwick is already warmed up. They were both in the right place at the right time when they connected and, along with incredible lyricist Hal David, created the perfect team for '60's pop music. Radio played these songs all the way into the disco era, so strong was their force and their following. You can't resist the opening la-la's of "San Jose" or the emotional fervor of "Don't Make Me Over". The music is a heart-rending tidal wave of nostalgia, simplicity, sensuality and bittersweet longing.