Rate the Raspberries albums

The Raspberries had three albums in their brief career. How do you rate them from best to weakest?

My Order:
1. STARTING OVER
2. FRESH RASPBERRIES
3. RASPBERRIES
4. SIDE THREE

I like all of them. The first two I consider great albums. The other two simply good.

What do you think?

 

I also rate Eric Carmen's first solo album very highly!

 

The exact opposite of your ratings.

Side Three and the first album are amazing from start to finish.
Tonight is my favorite song by the band.

 

I think they all average out to about equally strong and are hard to rank since the one I like best is usually the one I played most recently. Fresh may have the most consistent set of well-written songs across the album (but now that I see that in print, it looks sort of preposterous) while Raspberries probably has the weakest set of songs overall, but of course "Go All the Way" is equivalent to 12 great songs, so it compensates for a lot.

And of course, every album has at least one stone-cold "nobody ever needs to bother recording another pop or rock song again because it will not top this" monstrous brain-melting Platonic ideal of an uber-song that completely skews one's sense of the album overall. If you remove "Overnight Sensation" or "I Wanna Be with You," what remains would be a dang fine listenable album, but you stick them on there, and it makes the rest look pretty lackluster by comparison.

I just wish the four original knuckleheads had made six more albums.

 

Starting Over
Side 3
Fresh
Raspberries

 

and his second! soft spot for BAtC.

 

This

 

Today?

Fresh
Side 3
Starting Over
Raspberries

Darryl

 

Side 3
Starting Over
Fresh
Raspberries

 

I like all 4, and I even like the first Raspberries single "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" even if it''s too long for airplay and a slow tune.

 

Starting Over with the rest in a three way tie.
Besides Starting Over having my favorite song by them it also proved to be a pleasant surprise for me. I knew it was their last album so I had lower expectations. Plus I hate that cover and it added to my believing it would be a dull album before hearing it, which it wasn't for me.

 

I haven't heard all their albums, but if this is an accurate picture of their quality, they belong in the artists-getting-better thread.

 

For me, "Fresh" will always be my favorite, just for having "Let's Pretend", "If You Change Your Mind" and the so perfectly Beatles-like song, "Nobody Knows".

After that album, I choose Eric's solo self-titled album (The "Arista" one, not the "Geffen") and "Boats Against The Current", before I go with the other Raspberries albums, which are very good albums, but they have always seemed disjointed to me. Too many guys in The Raspberries trying to fight for the leads, but for this fan, Eric was always the one guy who had the real makings of a true talent and it's too bad that Clive Davis and Eric's own bad habits, got in his way.

 

This is hard.
The first album is my least favorite, although I of course love Go All The Way and have a soft spot for Come Around and See Me.
Fresh probably has the best production, and the tunes are stronger overall. And yes, Nobody Knows is killer.
Side 3 - man, to me this has the best ratio of killer songs. Tonight! Ecstasy! Hard To Get Over a Heartbreak! What else is on the album? Who cares?. . .Oh yeah, I'm a Rocker. That tune blows goats.
Starting Over - great also. Scott McCarl! What a shame he didn't get more traction in the music world, because if he had five tunes even 50% as good as Play On, there would have been at least six different threads on this guy in this forum alone. Great foil to Carmen here. AND, we have the title track, Overnight Sensation, I Don't Know What I Want. . .actually, really nice album.

So what am I saying? I guess I'm saying the Capitol best of from '91 is a REALLY strong collection.



P.S. Wally Bryson was a bad mofo on guitar.

 

My list exactly!

 

Raspberries
Starting Over
Fresh
Side 3

 

I agree about the first album except it is not my least favorite. I rate it better than Side 3 (but only a little)

FRESH has so many good songs. I almost put this as the best.

As for SIDE 3, you said something key. "ratio of songs". It only has 9 songs. And as you correctly pointed out "I'm A Rocker" sucks. "Ecstacy" should have been the 2nd single. "Last Dance" is also an excellent song. But the paucity of songs rates it as weakest for me.

STARTING OVER I rate as best because it shows more variety and maturity. And "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" is one of the all-time greatest songs. It is the story of so many 60's and early 70's bands. Not being in it for the money, but just wanting to have that hit record The production in that song and the sound of the record as though it is playing ove r the transistor radio is inspired. FRESH may have more good songs, but the overall concept of STARTING OVER gives it a slight edge for me.

 

Side 3 (Lots of killer rocking out songs)
Starting Over (Overnight Sensation has to be one of the best produced songs ever)
Fresh
Raspberries

 

Fresh (I remember some reviewer comparing this to Rubber Soul, and I think it's apt)
Raspberries
Side 3
Starting Over