Tina Turner - Tina! Her Greatest Hits Review
Posted by Jesse Coy on 10.03.2008
Talking about diva chicks? Anyone labeled a diva in the 90's or beyond... Tina can likely kick your ass. Sorry, but it's a fact. Here's the proof in the pudding.
Tina Turner Tina! Her Greatest Hits
September 2008
Capital Records
Boy, for someone who railed against reissues and best of releases (those that contain new bonus tracks only on “said” best of release), these past couple months have been big-time for me reviewing Greatest Hits albums. This is the fifth one I’m tackling, but before I get into it, let me throw out the other four, and give you the logic behind those…
1. Billy Idol- while his had a couple bonus tracks, it also came with a DVD of his music videos, which is always quite worth it.
2. Little Richard- different rules for the 50’s rock ‘n’ rollers, because often their “greatest hits” could be their all-inclusive output for a particular label, and that was the case here.
3. Chemical Brothers- had the mandatory extra track, but I was basically just curious, so it was a nice overview.
4. Megadeth- it was two discs, with a good half dozen extra tracks, and for someone without the reissued versions of the band’s catalogue, it gave a nice sampling of how the reissues sound.
So where were we? Anna Mae Bullock?
That's Tina Turner to you.
Well, damn, coming off the mood of the Best and Worst of the 80’s as was recently covered in 411Mania’s Top 5 column, maybe I was rather primed for Tina. The truth is, there are three songs I can throw out there that I think are just awesome, and it’s nice to have them together. They prove that Tina is great on the soundtrack angle and also highlight quite different styles (which shouldn’t be a surprise with a 40-year musical time span).
1. “Acid Queen”- I’d never seen Tommy. I knew the Who’s album well enough, but just never saw the flick. It’s only been in the last year that I saw it. Jack Nicholson was in that one? Wow. Anyhow, I prefer much more The Wall to Tommy. That said, there are several awesome sequences, especially by other musicians, such as Elton John and…. Tina! Not only the sequence in the movie, but the song itself is great.
2. “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)”- not too long ago, the topic came up in a podcast here of the best musicians who did the acting thing. Perhaps Tina was forgotten in her role as villain of the third Mad Max installment. But I’ll always remember her in that. I thought she did an incredible job. And this song, especially taken in context of the flick, is just great.
3. “Golden Eye”- it was a James Bond theme song that came out in the 90’s for Pierce’s debut. This one I owned prior to getting this greatest hits release. I have a CD with all the Bond title tracks up to Pierce’s Bond flicks. If I were to pick a top 5 of the all-time best James Bond movie themes, Tina’s contribution would make the list. This song is killer.
So there’s some of the gold, and those are tracks I knew. There’re others I know, of course. Before I round this off, the usual complaint might lodged against this greatest hits release, as is lodged against many a greatest hits release… it’s missing this, that, or the other thing. For those who take that track, bear in mind greatest hits releases are usually for the uninitiated, or those only somewhat familiar with said artist. This is no exception.
I’m not going to lie and say I love all of the other 15 tracks here. So I’ll throw out the ones I did really like… there’s “Private Dancer,” a stripper’s anthem. I remember when it came out, sort of liked it then, and still like it now. Her other really big 80’s hit, “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” is here. And then there’s a cover of Robert Palmer’s’ “Addicted to Love,” which I rather like.
Going older, “River Deep Mountain High” goes all the way back to ‘66. That was Ike and Tina’s debut. She sounds one part adorably sweet and one part powerful diva. It really stands out. “Proud Mary” is one of the few Ike and Tina songs on this one. I’d heard it before. The intro always struck me as being a little cheesy, but the actual remake, I like. There’s “Nutbush City Limits,” a rather fascinating track, mixing funk and glam rock. Did or didn’t Marc Bolan play on that one… that is the question.
The cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” was from ‘82, along with “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” Finally, of her two new tracks, I quite like “It Would Be a Crime,” upbeat with same nice sequencing rhythms, and being a new track, Tina’s voice sounds as diva powerful as ever.
The 411: This is based strictly off the tracks I like, which are quite strong. There's other tracks I'm not too keen on, but that's just my personal tastes. It seems like a pretty good sampling or overall introduction to one of the first real divas. The great stuff is classic.
