AMG Review of Love Songs [Columbia/Legacy]

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

Yes, Love Songs is a compilation targeted toward the Valentine's Day market. And how many Johnny Mathis albums, really, could not be said to consist primarily of "love songs"? But actually, this is a little more interesting than it could have been, since it's not just a collection of some hits and favorites with rearranged sequencing. Only one of these 16 tracks, "The Twelfth of Never," was a hit, and the rest of them are songs associated with films and Broadway musicals, like "My Funny Valentine," "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," "She Loves Me," "A Man and a Woman," "Where Do I Begin," and "All the Things You Are." Spanning 1957-1993 (though all but two tracks predate the 1980s), it's characteristically lush orchestrated crooning. But it might make for a nice change of pace in those homes where Mathis serves as makeout music since the material isn't overly familiar. For Mathis fans, the chief treats, or the annoyances if you don't appreciate needing to buy an entire CD for a sliver of new offerings, are two unreleased 1965 tracks, the aforementioned "She Loves Me," and "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing." The disc does stumble by including three mediocre covers of 1970s pop hits, "And I Love You So," "You Light Up My Life," and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life."