Best Of Bread by Bread Review

Her eyes met mine at the high school dance. They were turquoise blue and seemed to say "I wanna Make It With You." I soon discovered that man does not live by Bread alone-he needs a stereo too.

The jazzy dissonant chords seeking resolution captured the essence of my adolescence. The lyrical tenor voice of David Gates calmed my nerves. I then had the courage to ask her to dance. Aubrey was her name. (Actually, it was Kim.)

Like the sweet strings that poured themselves on me, I loved her name and I'd go a million times around the world just to say she had been mine for a day. If a face could launch a thousand ships, then there was no-one but her in my eyes and no-one but Bread in my ears.

Slow dancing with her was such a Sweet Surrender. I thought I would be a fool to escape her. I did not want the songs or the dance to end. "Oh Baby I'm-A Want You," my thoughts shouted, as the mellow sound-on-sound harmonies of that very song played in my ears.

Unfortunately, the evening did end. The lights were turned up and the stereo was turned off. I never saw her again. At school, one of her friends told me that she and her family had moved away. I then realized that she would love someone else, not me.

In spite of this fact, I sat underneath a tree and wrote the lyrics of my first song in my Diary. She was my inspiration. Since then, I have always wished for her all the sweet things she can find. I always think of her when David Gates sings his ballads with his acoustic guitar accompanied by violins that tug at my heartstrings.

As I sat in my lonely room with my stereo on, I fantasized that she was my Aubrey and I was her Guitar Man. Soaring electric eagles (guitars) dived and snatched my gut feeling and brought it to the nest of my mind. The endorphins in my head raced around like a river eddy, building pressure behind my eyes until a single tear was pushed out and rolled down my cheek.

Oh, how I missed the girl. "I'm Lost Without Your Love," I softly sang as David's voice led me through the bittersweet melody. The piano chords were my despair, the background orchestra was my hope that someday she and I would meet again.

"I would give Everything I Own just to have her back again," I prayed, as the song kept me warm and sheltered me from harm with its rock ballad beat dancing with acoustic guitars, and more of David's lilting voice wrapped with an orchestral blanket of strings.

My heart, though, was still shattered into a thousand pieces. Then, one day, when I was eating my lunch in the school cafeteria, it happened. The song It Don't Matter To Me was playing on the radio. David, his acoustic guitar, his band and orchestra gave me a sudden jolt of pride.

The shattered pieces of my heart gathered themselves up like the liquid metal android that appeared in the film Terminator II. "It don't matter to me," I repeated to myself. Before I knew it, I was over her. Besides, a new girl was giving me the eye.

The CD is the best of bread. The forgoing is a true story with snippets of the lyrics, and the CD song titles incorporated therein. Most of the songs on this CD are ballads written by David Gates. They are the famous hits that most Bread fans are familiar with.

The songs that I did not incorporate in my story are not really hits but very forgettable cover songs from various Bread albums. They were written by Gates and the other band members. These songs are feeble attempts at more up-tempo rock and roll. I always skip to the next track when one of these dogs bark in my ears.

Overall, I love this CD. It brings back memories of what was and what might have been, the hopes, the dreams, the heartaches, and the triumphs of my youth. Man does not live by bread alone, so what are you waiting for? Your memories are waiting for you in the best of bread.

The Band

David Gates-lead vocals, guitar, piano, bass guitar
Larry Knechtel-keyboards, bass, guitar, harmonica
Jimmy Griffin-guitar and vocals
Mike Botts--drums

Tracks

Make it With You
Everything I Own
Diary
Baby I'm A Want You
It Don't Matter To Me
If
Mother Freedom
Down On My Knees
Too Much Love
Let Your Love Go
Look What You've Done
Truckin'
The Guitar Man
Aubrey
The Last Time
Sweet Surrender
He's A Good Lad
Daughter
Friends and Lovers
Lost Without Your Love