Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Spanish Eyes
2. The Nearness Of You
3. Hello Dolly
4. Portrait Of My Love
5. My Love And Devotion
6. Laura
7. Walk Away
8. Born Free
9. Singin' In The Rain
10. It's A Breeze
11. Ethel Baby (Mr Wonderful)
12. Cheek To Cheek
13. Wednesday's Child (From Film 'The Quiller Memorandum)
14. As Long As I'm Singing
15. My Kind Of Girl
16. How Do You Do
17. Mama Packed A Picnic Tea
18. Yesterday

Disc 2:

1. Sweet Lorraine
2. Michelle
3. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
4. First Of May
5. The Days Of Wine And Roses
6. Leaving On A Jet Plane
7. You And Me Against The World
8. From Russia With Love
9. As Long As She Needs Me
10. Yesterday When I Was Young
11. Unchained Melody
12. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
13. For Once In My Life
14. I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore
15. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face
16. Diana
17. Stardust
18. For All We Know

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18824 in Music
• Released on: 2004-04-19
• Number of discs: 2

Customer Reviews

Some rare songs here
Based on the previous review, I bought this cd primarily to hear Matt's version of Yesterday When I was Young. However another song has eclipsed it in my opinion. "Diana" is incredibly beautiful and this song alone is worth the price of this double-cd collection. I also enjoyed the rare songs "Mama Packed A Picnic Tea", "How Do You Do" and "First Of May". I am deducting one star for the redundant songs on this compilation that make it difficult to hear the rare ones. I wish EMI will place all the rare songs together so that we don't have to use the remote so often to skip the familiar ones which are on countless compilations. Why can't EMI UK give us WEDNESDAY's CHILD in STEREO when my Collectables cd from USA can? I also wish the version of "You And Me Against The World" is Matt's solo version instead of the duet with his son. EMI.....more rarities from the vaults please.

Historic Release!
This CD set is a truly historic release for Matt's fans, as it includes brilliant renditions of two well-known songs that have been unreleased for over 30 years. One is "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," and the other (more about it later) is "Yesterday When I Was Young." The fact that these two gems were still in the vaults gives us all hope that more and more will become available on future CD releases. The set also includes four songs that were released but are new to CD, which is rare among Monro compilations. These include one of the most horrifyingly hilarious story songs you'll ever hear, as well as Matt's lovely 1980 tribute to the new Princess Diana. Michele Monro, his daughter, wrote the liner notes, and this release is a perfect follow-up to her 2002 box set, itself a milestone to those of us who love her father.

"Yesterday When I Was Young" is a lost treasure from its era. There were so many versions, some may wonder why this discovery is such a big deal. Well, for one, the song was practically written for him...a deeply melodic European ballad with an adapted English lyric. And Matt takes it to incredible heights by drawing out the tempo and twisting the melody to keep it fresh and not as repetitive as we're accustomed to. He extends each note even more than usual, allowing us to bask in his artistry. Then the ending has a clever key change that allows a further revision of the melody and gives us another classic Monro scoop. True, he keeps us wanting more by omitting a couple of verses, but that's a show business rule, right? Here's hoping that the "more" will come in the form of more surprises like this one.