Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Audiophile Double Album 1983
Hot! Live and Otherwise is an essential album for Dionne Warwick fans. It contains well-known songs that were staples of her live shows around the time of this recording (1981) and Dionne favorites that she hadn't recorded in the studio ("What You Won't Do For Love", "In The Stone", "One In A Million You") along with a slightly abbreviated hit record medley (this one clocks in at 20 minutes, whereas her live shows often featured 30-minute medleys) that nicely sums up the bulk of her impressive string of hit records from the 1960s (plus her sole Warner years hit "Then Came You") and wraps with hits from her Arista career (then only into its third year). The Arista song performances easily rival and even outdo their studio originals -- "Deja Vu" transforms from a subtle jazz ditty to an oomphy vocal gymnastic delight, "Easy Love" gets a boost in tempo and becomes a swinging affair, "No Night So Long" is a stirring tear-jerker, and "I'll Never Love This Way Again" allows Dionne to flaunt both her enviable range and control, holding notes for 15 seconds as if an effortless feat. The remaining tracks are adult contemporary triumphs of which Dionne was immensely proud, and rightfully so -- "There's A Long Road Ahead Of Us" is easily one of the best Dionne performances on record and has range and power to spare, "Some Changes Are For Good" is a sentimental journey that sounds strangely similar to Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love Of All" which would become a massive hit some four years later, "Even A Fool Would Let Go" is a tender and softly sung ballad, and "Now We're Starting Over Again" is a memorable tune that would be covered by the likes of Stacy Lattisaw and Natalie Cole (the latter of whom found AC success with a slightly reworked version some eight years later). As an added treat, two previously unreleased bonus tracks round out the set -- "When The Good Times Come Again" is another emotional tour de force sung with the conviction and passion only Dionne could deliver to such a richly orchestrated composition (it was later recorded by Dionne collaborator and fellow orchestration fan Barry Manilow) whilst the breezy "Right Back" could easily have soared up the adult contemporary charts had it been given the chance.
Side 1.
1. What You Won't Do for Love/In the Stone
2. Don't Make Me Over
3. Alfie
4. One in a Million You
Side 2.
5. Hit Records Medley: Walk on By/Anyone Who Had a Heart/You'll Never Get
Side 3.
6. Déjà Vu
7. Easy Love
8. No Night So Long
9. I'll Never Love This Way Again
Side 4.
10. There's a Long Road Ahead of Us
11. Some Changes Are for Good
12. Even a Fool Would Let Go
13. Now We're Starting Over Again
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