Bread

These guys were the best! Enjoyed their music in the '70's and it's just as good now! Also the jacket info told me what I've always suspected: David Gates, who wrote most of the songs, is more than your normal rocker. He shows a love for family and a wholesomeness that's pretty unusual in the field. He wrote I Would Give Everything I Own originally after the death of his father, and later rewrote it as a love song. Daughter, Daughter is a song about waiting for the right person. If you liked Bread back when, you'll love this album.

music to lay around with your lady and listen to. very sensual and mood setting

I will go ahead and say what few men will and that is this: I have sung my heart out many times throughout my life with this album - at times sobbing or wistful, other times filled with joy and hope - but sing along I did, as you will when you get this classic. Their sound reminds me of Seals and Crofts, who too can bring me to tears. This compilation harkens back to an earlier, better, sweeter time and these songs are just as easy to listen to alone as they are with the one you love. Get a slice of Bread, make it uniquely yours, or share it with someone you care for: I'm buying a copy to give my 16 year-old daughter. My highest recommendation.

What can I say about Bread who I started listening to on 8track when I was nine but, awesome. These guys are talented beyond words and two of them wrote "For All We Know" which was recorded by The Carpenters. The songs "Make It With You","Look What You've Done(a personal favorite)", "If",and you get so much more. All these songs are excellent on this collection. "Let Your Love Go" proves the group can rock and I am glad they included "Lost Without Your Love". I do hope they release Best of Bread Vol 2 one day(another excellent collection of songs). David Gates,James Griffin,Mike Botts,Robb Royer,Larry Knechtel, and Jim Gordon(who drummed on the first album), thank you for all the wonderful music. Highly reccommended!!!!!!!!!!

If you could only use one word to describe this collection hits that's it... BRILLIANT.

Put on this CD (slab of vinyl would be even better) and immediately be morphed to a kinder, more gentle time when the soft rock of David Gates and Bread ruled the AM airwaves.

There is some serious baby-making music here, folks!

I listen to this CD at least once a week. Their soft rock sounds still move me.

It's a shame this band will never get together again. There isn't anyone else out there, in my opinion, that can match the love songs that David Gates wrote.

In the 70's I was a newly wed who spent every extra penny to put together a couple of MacIntosh 275's and some Klipsh K-Horns with an orthophon turntable and cartridge. Yes it was the day of the vinyl audiophile, but there was very little recorded that was "audiophile quality" outside the classics. Then bread got put in the oven... I don't think I slept for weeks as I played their wonderfully produced talent and outstanding recording over and over. They still hold up today and and digital is so much better... so my vinyl can be retired now. You won't ever regret buying this bit of easy listening.

For me, the true 'taste test' for music is how well it holds up now. Bread hasn't gone stale as a group. This is one of maybe 20 or 30 CDs that I still listen to regularly. I love every song. David Gates has a great singing voice, not to mention excellent writing talents. These songs are part of our subconscious. Every now and then, I catch myself humming or singing these songs. Someone will ask "Who does that song?". I'll say "Bread" and the other will say "Who's that?". To answer that question, one need only to buy this CD, or Retrospective or the Definitive Collection. I own only Anthology. One of these days, I'll buy the other six studio albums and savor every song.

This group headed by David Gates is not classic rock or even easy rock, as I heard "Sweet Surrender," my favorites of their recordings on the Easy Listening FM in Huntsville, Alabama, years ago. For the life of me I simply cannot get the two "adult standards" stations FM or AM to play this particular recording. Why is it taboo? One plays way too much Doris Day, the other too much Enya with a bit of Michael Feinstein put in at odd hours. I miss most of his. MYL won't even play his now. ONly that maverick, the Winker, who is the Rebel and plays what he wants to come hell or hight water may insert one occasionally. Even he won't play "Sweet Surrender." I've gone through a few sweet surrenders in my time; they just don't know what they are missing by not trying it just once.

A terrific compilation of the best of Bread. Great to listen to and reminisce about those days when Bread was putting out top hits. 2 CDs full of songs - a few of which I never heard (or "remembered" hearing ;-)) back in the day...

I had searched high and low for many of the Bread albums, but could not find them. Here are all the great songs and some of even the lesser known hits together in one collection! A must for any breadhead!

This collection was exactly what I was looking for. Although the case was damaged, thankfully none of the cd's were and I was able to immediately begin listening to the cd's. After ditching my turntable and albums I've been trying to get back all the music I love. This definitely helped. Absolutely awesome...has every song anyone could want.

Yeah that's right - the best-of of best-ofs ... PERIOD. With two 25-song discs both stuffed so full of the highest-quality eardrum art that very little disc space remains ... you can't be stuck on any desert island without it!

To this day, however, I still can't figure out why since day one much of the public has pigeonholed this legendary band as progenitors of soft-rock ... not even after thirty-some years later! Which is why this compilation reflects this reviewer's humble opinion that Bread excelled (at least, for the most part, aesthetically) in every notion of pop music imaginable - from folk-rockers like "Dismal Day" and "Any Way You Want Me" to country-rockers such as "Too Much Love" and "Truckin'" to stomping rockers including "Let Your Love Go" and, of course, the punchy "Mother Freedom" (the latter of which now bears a timely re-listening given the world's current state of absolute turmoil). Even drummer Mike Botts's sole Bread co-writing credit (with James Griffin), the infectiously groovy "Fancy Dancer", also makes a listener want to get up and get down instead of just sit and read Cosmopolitan magazines all the time ...

Which is not to suggest that Bread's legendary ballads were bad, let alone "sappy." "Everything I Own," David Gates' moving tribute to his late father, is an excellent example, not to mention his true signature tune, the immortal and much-covered standard "If" (which, incidentally, is prolific enough to have its own entry in Wikipedia!). Even James Griffin (God rest his soul), the hard(er) rocker of the group who often fought (unsuccessfully) to have his compositions released as singles (with the exception of 1969's "Could I", which unfortunately bombed miserably - as did the debut album from which it was featured), had his own share of outstanding Bread ballads to his resume'. Check out the dreamy "ballad section" of "Take Comfort" and the gospel-flavored Disc One closer, "Just Like Yesterday" - very convincing evidence indeed!

And for the compilation's overall lack of previously-unearthed treasures, the only such track included - the Griffin/Royer/Karlin composition "For All We Know" - is classic revelation enough to make up for that liability. In fact the original demo remains this reviewer's favorite rendition of this Oscar-winning gem!

Throw in several Gates solo recordings as well as an extensive booklet with massive and informative liner notes and first-rate photos to the mixing trough and VOILA! - you have the ultimate and most consistently satisfying platter in all of pop music. So in conclusion, to paraphrase one of the genre's most profilic writers, IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER TO ME what style of pop music you crave - this outstanding compilation by an equally outstanding group is sure to meet the RIAA's USRDA of all of pop's subgenres in a manner that should be enough to satisfy even the most picky connoisseur - in spite of all the endless, unnecessary AND uneducated critical scorn.

Happy listening and Bon Appetit ... :-)

Finally, in 2 discs we get a proper very well remastered retrospective of not just Bread but also David Gates solo stuff as well. This is the one to get if you want a true representation of Bread and David Gate's work. With the great track selections and sound quality, it's fully worth the price.
Highly recommended!

This is my favorite Bread album. Earlier in the 70's they produced a string of hits as well as solid album cuts. As Sir George Martin once noted, .. we look to an album to encapsulate a period of time, usually fond, by which we can associate... . This album works on that level, and some other levels. Fortunately, these songs stand up to many of Bread's finest. Opening with the catchy melody of "Hooked On You" the listener is intrigued enough to pay attention to all the cuts. Even years after their last release, the definitive Bread sound is there- and still sounding fresh! "She's The Only One" is also a good moving tune followed by the name sake title song, "Lost Without Your Love". If the melody here, simple and sweet, is not enough, then do catch the final lyric- "if we had love before ... we can have it back once more." Tough to beat that. "Change Of Heart" is a nice change of pace- very listenable-a la Bread. Without being too long winded, I will focus on one last tune- "Belonging". This starts as it might be a David Gates solo as Lennon's "Working Class Hero" or Marley's "Redemption Song". Gates could have made it work too. However the Bread signature instrumentation is beautifully woven into the fabric of the song, raising it to an even higher level. Gates has come a long way since he penned The Murmaids' "Popsicles and Icicles" a dozen or so years earlier. This album is classic Bread.
No doubt Wounded Bird Records knew the CD buying public would eat this release up as they chose to skimp on the "extras" (the reason I withheld a star). At slightly more than 36 minutes for 11 songs, an out take or two or an alternate version would have been welcomed. Perhaps some liner notes, recording dates, etc. could help justify the price of the CD. Oh well, at least we get a gatefold which is more than Clapton gets on many of his releases.
In summation, this is a very GOOD Bread release from 1976. Buy it- you won't be disappointed.

I was elated when I found out (3 months later, but better late than never) that "Lost Without Your Love" had finally seen the light of CD. Every music fan surely has their "last holdout(s)" when they can say everything from vinyl they care to own has finally been released on compact disc, and this album is mine.

I'm making a space for it between "Guitar Man" and Jackson Browne's "Late For the Sky"!

I can't be objective about this album - during the winter holidays of my senior year I found the LP in the racks at the local record store and lovingly carried it home (after dropping off my girlfriend) and dropped the needle into the groove with great anticipation. I had already worn out my 45 single of "Lost Without Your Love / Change Of Heart" purchased 6 weeks earlier, and as a long time fanatic of the songs and vocals of David Gates (and partner James Griffin) from their start in 1969, I was completely captivated by hearing new songs from these guys. Since their breakup in 1973, there had been great solo albums by Gates (First & Never Let Her Go) and Griffin (Breakin Up Is Easy), so I wasn't totally starved, but it was a BREAD album! Like most, I was captivated by David Gates work, and LOST WITHOUT YOUR LOVE includes some of his very best. The hit title song and the 2nd single "Hooked On You" are killer, and he dropped in a classic with "Chosen One" as well. James Griffin's fantastic "She's The Only One" has been on most of the Bread CD compilations, and "Change Of Heart", a rare songwriting collaboration between Griffin & Gates is one of his classics. Griffin's vocal "Lay Your Money Down" was actually recorded by Bread in 1973 for their "next" album (unfinished/unreleased). LOST WITHOUT YOUR LOVE is a great late 70's classic with wonderful songs by a talented and creative band.
NOTE: James Griffin and Mike Botts have both recently passed away. Griffin released a 2nd solo album in Europe on Polydor ("James Griffin" - 1977), and recorded many great songs with Terry Sylvester, Black Tie, and The Remingtons post-Bread. David Gates has released 4 more solo albums since Bread disbanded (again) in late 1977. BREAD toured in support of the Lost Without Your Love album in 1977 (great show!) and also in 1995-1996 with the original lineup (still great!).

This album is definitely the best release by bread, and it is about time it was released on CD. With 'guitar man' (1972),there was quite a bit of experimentation and genre swapping, but this album really keeps to what the band does best, in terms of quality ballads and melodic soft rock. Gates is the main composer with the ballad 'hooked on you' to start things off, which is a typical melodic bread love ballad, with soft guitars and orchestra. His classic piano ballad 'lost without your love' has an incredible verse and beautiful uplifting chorus, with a great electric guitar solo. The synths at the end are quite simply ethereal. 'Belonging' is a stripped down ballad, with acoustic picking and orchestra, similar in style to other Gates numbers like 'diary' and 'aubrey', a fantastic track. 'The chosen one' is also amazing, with a solid band effort and excellent keyboards and bass and a lovely lead vocal. Another soft rock song. 'Hold tight' is a happy discoish rock song, which is ever so slightly twee, but enjoyable nonetheless. Gates also composes the Griffin sung 'lay your money down', which is the only rock song on the album, and is fantastic, with multi layered vocals and great instrumentation, although the drums seemed to be panned extreme left, which somewhat lessens the potential heaviness of the track.
Griffin co-writes with Gates on 'change of heart' which is another delicious ballad, with great high vocals from Griffin, and some nice acoustic guitar and flute work. He composes with Royer, who was previously in bread on the remaining tracks. 'She's the only one' is a great country-esque ballad, and 'fly away' has some climactic vocals that really reach into the high notes and this melody sticks in the head, accompanied by lots of acoustic strummed guitars. The album has yet two more Griffin/Royer ballads at the end, 'today's the first day' which has a beautiful verse and nice backing vocals and, another lovely falsetto performance in places for 'lady of sorror', which closes out the album.
A fantastic album, chock full of ballads. Definitely their greatest release ever. Highly recommended.

Discography Complete, thanks Wounded Bird Records. David Gates only CD`s availables First and Goodbye girl, i have CD`s Never let her go, Falling in love again, Take me now, but they were not recorded by Elektra, but by different labels.

If you already like Bread from some songs you've heard, this album is definitely a buy.

There are only a couple of songs that are not as melodically delicious. Here's the run down:

Mother Freedom: think 70s "smell like teen spirit" (beat wise and catchiness) definitely rock chart topper
Baby I'm a want you: beautiful love song very catchy (chart topper)
Down on my knees: driving catchy and upbeat. good strong melody
Everything I own: chart topper back in the day
Nobody like you: a little country rock lol still catchy... but its not something you need to force yourself to listen a number of times to enjoy it.
Diary: sweet ballad!
Dream Lady: v. cool 70s psychedelic ballad that goes into some serious organ solo!
Daughter: catchy upbeat song (sounds a little beatlesque)
Games of Magic: slow psychedelic song, makes you think of some flower power mommas and pappas song... very enjoyable.
This isnt what the governmeant: the only song i dont like.. sure you can say its catchy but in a REALLY hillbilly way...
Just like yesterday: another beautiful ballad
I dont love you: I hate the contrived vocals at the start... both voices dont fit each other... it has those echo drums like john lennon... still catchy.

so there... only 2 songs i didnt like... i'm a sucker for sweet tunes.

hope this helped you make your buying decision.

Bread's "Baby I'm-A Want You" album, originally released in January of 1972, is a pleasant affair, but it wallows around in averageness. It sounds as though the band just wasn't that inspired.

Six of the twelve songs are David Gates solo compositions, and though his talent for songcraft is clearly in evidence, he's considerably off his game. The breezy title track was a big time hit, and the melody is certainly very nice, but it's a tad corny lyrically, and in retrospect, the song sounds like a dry run of sorts for David's 1974 version of "Never Let Her Go" (a song he'd actually written in the mid-'60s). "Everything I Own", written for David's father who had passed away, is pretty and well-written, but David oversings it a little. The album-opening "Mother Freedom" is reasonably catchy, but this attempt at rocking out feels forced, and the lyrics are corny and strained. The fiddle-laced "This Isn't What The Governmeant" (no, that's NOT a typo) again suffers from strained lyrics. The "If"-style ballad "Diary" is neatly arranged and has some really nice imagery and flow to the lyrics, but it's disappointingly anti-climactic. "Daughter" is a nice little McCartney-esque ballad-rocker with David and James sharing the lead vocals, though it's no great shakes.

The songwriting duo of James Griffin and former Bread member Robb Royer have just two songs here, but each of them are surprisingly strong. "Dream Lady" starts off dreamy indeed, solidly melodic and well-sung by James, and the song eventually gives way to a middle section that rocks out nicely with organ and guitar soloing. The fine acoustic-based ballad "Games Of Magic" is another dreamy tune with great keyboard work from Larry Knechtel.

The album ends with two solo compositions from Griffin. "Just Like Yesterday" is a nice piano-based ballad. However, "I Don't Love You" recalls the overwrought Griffin-Royer 'rockers' on "On The Waters", with James singing in an incredibly annoying 'blues' voice on the first verse, although mercifully he goes back to a more normal voice for the rest of the song apart from a brief snippet on the fade.

There's also an annoying jazzy 'soul' number with "Nobody Like You", sung by Griffin and written by Knechtel, Griffin, and Gates. The jangly uptempo pop-rocker "Down On My Knees", written by Griffin and Gates, again suffers from those annoying 'gutsy' Griffin vocals.

So, all in all, this really isn't a bad album, and Bread fans will find it enjoyably listenable, but it sure is a disappointment, not least due to the fact that Gates seems to have been in a considerable rut at the time.

This album brings together some of Bread's best ballads and a few strong rock songs too. They often seem to start an album with a rocky song, and 'Mother freedom' is arguably the heaviest song they have ever done. It is also excellent and catchy, and I don't really like this sort of music, so that is saying something! 'Down on my knees' is also fairly upbeat and catchy, but not as good.
The ballads again stand out, and Griffin writes some of his best. 'Dream lady' has an infectious melody, and nice backing vocals, with the gutiar plucking away. 'Just like yesterday' is one of his best piano ballads ever, and I love 'Games of magic' for its melody. Another ballad, without any drums.
GAtes is also on form. 'Diary' is his 'Aubrey' of the album, with a beautiful set of lyrics, definitely my favourite by Bread, and a gorgeous string arrangement, with subtle backing vocals by James. 'Baby I'm a want you' is really well known and desrvedly so, for it is beautiful. I love 'everything I own' also, particularly the middle eight, where I am still not sure if a guitar is being played, or it is actually a harp.
Only one song is noticeably weaker for me, the substandard 'this isn't what the governmeant'. Apart from the clear pun this is an irritating dirge of a number, that should have been left off and replaced with something else.
Still highly highly recommended!

Perhaps one of the purest pieces of pop perfection ever poured onto a plastic disc for the pleasure of professional fans, "Baby I'm-A Want You" could be the pop equivalent of Picasso or Dali - that is, the first time that soft rock made a true, unabashed masterpiece which can be held up as a standard for time immemorial. Previous "acclaimed" groups, like the Beatles or the Stones, can really just be seen as footnotes leading up to Bread, an inspired group who merged heart, beauty, tunefulness and perfection to create heavenly music of a type never heard before or since. Everything since has been a comedown, really.

Somehow, though, this album is not mentioned in the same breath as other musical classics, like the overrated "Sgt. Pepper" and "Pet Sounds". Anti-Bread bias among music's elite? Possibly. But that's splitting hairs. My question for the growing legion of Bread-heads out there is this: why is this not an album that is in everyone's music collection? Why is it, as I write this, number 20,432 on Amazon's sales list? Are we so possessive of classic songs like "Everything I Own" and "Diary" that we feel no need to share them with others who might also see the light? It's time for everyone to love this album like we love this album and be freed from the oppression of no-talents like Coldplay and Dave Matthews! Let's make this thing number one on the sales chart (or at least in the top 100)!

Bread-heads, it's time to let the world hear what they've been missing. They'll be hearing the greatest music ever - and baby, I'm-a want that.

In 1972 I bought this, at that time, eight track tape. I wore it out. It was one of mine and my girlfriend's (now wife) favorite tapes. So many memories come flooding back when I listen to this recording. Sometimes music transports us to a place and time from long ago and we can relive wonderful times. This tape does this for me.

This one has SWEET SURRENDER as does their Best of Bread, Volume 2. They sing a variety of styles. The hits were by David Gates with his melodious voice and sweet rendering of love songs. This is a good one.

Bread has always delivered the goods. Every album they produced was worth the money. The Guitar Man is "The Best Of Bread". The first song "Welcome To the Music" Introduces you to The Guitar Man album with band members Larry Knechtel, Mike Botts, David Gates and the late James Griffin. Next, "The Guitar Man" was the biggest hit of 3 released from the album. Some would think that David wrote this song as a tribute to Jim Morrison. By the way at the end of the song when the Guitar Man fades you can here an MC introducing The Doors from one of their concerts. "Tecolote" is another song that spotlights the musical talents of Larry playing lead guitar and Mike on the drums. "Yours For Life" another installment of David's love songs. "Don't Tell Me No" showcases James at his best, But, then again his writing talents has always been exceptional. After all he did win a Grammy with "For All We Know" a big hit for The Carpenters. Which you can hear his version on the Anthology Of Bread CD. And finally "Didn't Even Know Her Name" is about a love struck individual who meets the girl of his dreams. But, could never call her his own because of a commitment she has made with her high school sweatheart. What a bummer.
Anyway, A great CD loaded with talent and no musical games. Bread is just the ticket for the money.

Just to correct the review of the previous person. Larry Knetchel does NOT sing on 'picture in my mind', even though he wrote the song, it is James Griffin.
Which leads to another misconception the previous reviewer had of Bread that seems to be prevalent. David Gates was NOT the lead singer of Bread- it was jointly held between himself and James Griffin, equally singing half the songs on their albums. David is amazing, yes, but he is only recognised as lead singer, as he wrote most of the bands' biggest hits and sung them. James should not be allowed to dwindle into obscurity. I think he is also multi talented.
As for the album, it is an excellent mix of beautiful ballads 'Aubrey' is the most delicate and beautiful song they EVER did, period. And 'Didn't know her name' is also touching. 'Sweet surrender' was also a hit and 'the guitar man' has an irreistable hook and melody. Two of the three rockers are excellent. 'Fancy dancer' is an amazing rocker, that again, shows Bread should not be pigeon holed as a ballad group. 'Tecolote' is further evidence of this, and has some hysterical lyrics. Might take some time to get used to, but this song is also catchy.
The two tracks slightly below par for me are 'Welcome to the music', which, while not a bad song by any means, just seems an underdeveloped and throwaway number, not really suiting their style. One song is pretty bad though, 'Don't tell me no', just passes by and has no melody at all.
All in all though, it was an excellent album I enjoy listening to. Buy for the sake of listening to 'Aubrey', 'Didn't know her name' and 'Fancy dancer' alone.

"Music fan"'s original note made mention to the "fact" that "Diary" is not on the "Guitar Man" CD as it "was" on the album. This CD does contain the complete tracks and in cronological order that are on the "Guitar Man" album. "Diary" isn't on this CD as it was not originally on this album. "Diary" is on the original (prior release) "Baby I'm A Want You" album and CD.

This was album #5, released in late 1972, and the last for the group before the members disbanded in the early '70's. This album continued to showcase and establish David Gates as the dominant member of the group. Of the 12 songs on the album, David Gates wrote 6 of them and co-wrote on 2 of them. This "finale album" (disregarding their reunion album "Lost Without Your Love" released in early 1977 for the moment) gave us one of David Gates' best romantic ballads ever- "Aubrey." "The Guitar Man," "Sweet Surrender," and "Fancy Dancer" can also be included as popular songs from this album. "Best of Bread-Volume 2" used 5 songs from this album for its playlist. David Gates selected 3 songs from this album as personal favorites for his latest release, "The David Gates Songbook," of the 10 Bread songs on this new CD.

There are so many other memorable songs on this album: the opener, "Welcome To The Music," which sets a nice tone for the remainder of the album. "Make It By Yourself," "Yours For Life," "Picture In Your Mind," "Don't Tell Me No," and "Didn't Even Know Her Name" are some others that come to mind. From ballads to rock songs, I have always felt this collection of songs seem to flow together very well as a concept album. I would rate this CD with 4.5 stars.

All in all, I have always considered this to be one of Bread's better and more enjoyable ensemble of songs. This collection of Gates' and Griffin's songs works better together and more cohesive as an album in their fifth release. (That trend would continue and improve with this group's last album, "Lost Without Your Love.") A very enjoyable, uplifting, and inspiring playlist! This CD will be one that you will want to play over and over.

I haven't heard this album (see it's still an album to me) in years, and since I have always been a fan of David Gates I wanted to check it out again. I was amazed to find it to be much richer and more melodic than I remembered it. There are a couple of lazy cuts to be sure, but for the most part this is a standout CD. From the opening track "Why Do You Keep Me Waiting", to the rocking "Been Too Long On The Road" to the jazzy "I Want You With Me". I have not stopped listening to it.

Play this one a couple of times and you will be glad you did...a great balance between Griffin and Gates....Gates could write a beautiful ballot, ala McCartney, but you must have Griffin, ala Lennon (hope you all don't mind the comparison) to make a complete band...don't forget Royers, Botts and Knechtel who are probably the most underated musicians of our time. Some 30 years later, BREAD still rules.

I must defend James Griffin from the vicious & (in my opinion) undeserved attack by the reviewer known as Dave 'Missing Person'.
James brought a heck of a lot to the group - guts, raunchiness, flair, an occasional tender touch &, most of all, a great, soulful, hugely underrated VOICE (just listen to 'Today's the first day', 'Fancy dancer' or 'The last time').
I cannot agree with his criticisms of Griffin/Royer's contribution to this album, either. In fact, I think, for the only time on a Bread album, their efforts match David Gates'.
I love their two uptempo numbers, 'Why do you keep me waiting' & 'Easy love', while 'I am that I am' has some great effects & a wonderful, dominant bass line.
I would have to concede that David Gates wrote the three best tracks on the album - 'Make it with you', 'Been too long on the road' & 'The other side of life', but this is balanced by the fact that he also wrote the three worst - 'Blue satin pillow', 'In the afterglow' & the utterly tuneless 'I want you with me', possibly the worst Bread track ever (O.K., James Griffin co-wrote it, but he'd already fulfilled his half-dozen quota).
To sum up, then, another excellent offering from a group who maintained high standards throughout their career, & then disbanded before mediocrity set in, to their eternal credit.

Originally released in July of 1970, "On The Waters" is Bread's second album. At the time of its release, the David Gates-penned single "Make It With You", which was released 2+ months prior, had already become a big time breakthrough hit for Bread and was well on its way to becoming a gold single.

"On The Waters" is one uneven album--it basically feels like you're listening to songs from a really good band/ artist, with songs from a really mediocre band/ artist mixed in. It's been said repeatedly that "Make It With You" gives a rather false impression of the album as a whole, and this is certainly true. The main reason for this is due to the songwriting contributions of James Griffin and his writing partner Robb Royer. At this point, Griffin didn't appear to have even close to the level of talent of Gates. Despite this, of the album's 12 tracks, 6 of the songs are credited to the Griffin/ Royer pairing; one track is actually a Griffin/ Gates composition, while the remaining 5 songs are Gates solo compositions. The liner notes featured in the 1995 CD release of "On The Waters" on Rhino are very interesting indeed and sort of underline, in unintentional fashion, how much less talented Griffin and Royer were. Griffin & Royer's unflatterting remarks toward Gates seem to be largely due to jealously of both his talent and commercial success.

The sumptuous "Make It With You" is an obvious highlight here--it's superbly melodic, with deceptively tender lyrics, and terrific bass and electric guitar parts played by Gates that kind of intertwine with both each other as well as the string arrangement. David's explanation in the Rhino CD's liner notes of how this song came to be is fascinating and shows just how in control he was, whereas Royer displays his appalling ignorance saying that he thought the song was merely a "change of pace" from the more hard-rocking sound he thought the group was going for, seemingly oblivious to Gates' astonishing craftsmanship.

Of all the Gates' tunes here, there isn't a weak one anywhere. "Blue Satin Pillow" is a really catchy rocker with effective use of clever meter-shifting rhythms. The elaborately-arranged epic "Been Too Long On The Road" does resort to melodrama just a tad, but it's extremely impressive, with powerful vocal hooks, and packed with great guitar licks (Griffin does do a great job on lead guitar on this song). "In The Afterglow" has splashes of really cheesy synth, but it's a solidly melodic ballad. The album closes with Gates' lovely, soothing, lyrically incisive acoustic ballad "The Other Side Of Life". His co-write with Griffin, "I Want You With Me", mixes a swaying country feel with some mild jazzy flourishes--it's really good, and has some great harmonies.

Unfortunately, for "balance", we get the Griffin/ Royer tunes which wallow in mediocrity--they strain to come up with the kind of catchy hooks that Gates does. It really adds insult to injury that Griffin's vocals leave a hell of a lot to be desired, and he's on lead vocals for all of these Griffin/ Royer songs. "Why Do You Keep My Waiting" is, according to Royer, an attempt at "finding our own rock direction"--I guess the key word is "finding", because the song is generic, annoyingly self-righteous, and has annoyingly "macho" Griffin vocals. "Coming Apart" is an overdone, melodramatic sappy ballad. As far as the practically tuneless "I Am That I Am" is concerned, Griffin says Royer sang the title line from a Gideon Bible and that "it fit the melody perfectly", which begs the question, "What melody?"--it's an incredibly boring "message" song, with toothless Griffin vocals, and verses that are so melodically weak it's beyond all belief. The ballad "Look What You've Done" suffers from the strained, sickly-sweet Griffin vocals--thankfully Gates manages to salvage things a bit by helping Griffin out on the vocals and contributing some great high harmonies. The somewhat "Day Tripper"-ish "Easy Love" does have a decent riff, but again, it's sorely lacking melodically. The bluesy "Call On Me" starts off promisingly as if it might be a solid groove tune, but it ends up being aggravatingly slight.

Obviously, "On The Waters" is very much a mixed bag in terms of quality, but it's a must for serious David Gates fans, so keep your eyes peeled for a cheap copy. Admittedly, the 1995 Rhino CD is preferrable thanks to the extensive liner notes, and the reproduction of the amusing liner notes from the original vinyl LP, plus the valiant remastering effort.

I love ballads and songs with good melodies. Hence I rate this one the weakest of all Bread's releases. It takes on more of a rocky edge to it. It would be tempting to think of this album as AOR, after the beautiful hit 'make it with you', that comes from here. But that track is not really an accurate reflection on the album's content.
Yes, there are other ballads. 'Coming apart' has the best Griffin vocal ever, what power and effort went into that vocal delivery, and he is brilliant. 'The other side of life' is also a lovely soft ballad, with some nice vocal harmonies. 'Afterglow' is also a light song that builds in the chorus.
Much of the rest is heavier stuff. 'Blue satin pillow' is weak in my eyes, and has little melody. 'Easy love' is just repetitive' and 'Call on me' could be 'I want you' by the beatles, part 2- in terms of the repetitious vocal line. I do not really care for any of these songs.
Fortunately, Bread improved on their next album/

So let me start off by saying that I really do like Whole Wheat Bread, they're an incredible band that I got turned onto when I saw them opening up for Big D and the Kids Table and then again when my own band opened up for them at Peabody's in downtown Cleveland. They have a ton of energy live and they're really an incredible band to rock out too.

The problem with this CD; well there's a bunch. It seems like this CD was kind of rushed because Whole Wheat Bread was ready to begin their music career in the industry. There are only 10 real tracks (minus "Miss the Bus," a track of no sound, and three rap songs) and only about half of them are actually REALLY good, the rest are entertaining but forgetable. What these guys should have done is waited a year or so and put out a CD with all these tracks plus the tracks from the EP "Punk Life" and then they'd almost have a decent CD's worth.

As for the sound, it's pretty good, not fantastic, especially since a lot of their live energy doesn't make the transition to their CD recordings. They pretty much sound like a black Blink 182 or Green Day (They covered "Welcome to Paradise" when I saw them live back in December), except their lyrics are better and reflect a totally different lifestyle. (And thank God because Blink's lyrics are horrible) The guitar drives this CD for the most part, but there are a few instances where the bass gets a chance to shine, not enough in my opinion though. The guitar riffs are catchy and poppy and could get stuck in your head pretty easily, which I guess is a good thing.

These guys have the potential to become a very good band and I expect them to do so in the coming years. This however, is only a good band in their beginning years, and I have a feeling that the CD they're putting out this summer will be a lot better than this one. Standout tracks are "Broke" "Loud and Clear" "Police Song" and my personal favorite, "Old Man Samson" which is fast paced punk song with obvious southern influences and typical lyrics about a dude who drinks a lot. I was pissed that I didn't get to see them play it live 'cause my band was setting up to play on the minor stage at the time. I would recomend downloading this album as opposed to paying for it or just waiting for the new one, or even just seeing them live and not actually buying the CD recordings.

its like t.harris said 3 black guys playing some good ol' punk rock its awesome, bought this cd a while ago and it is constantly enjoyable best song by far is old man samsong if i ever go to a show (im in Missouri) ppl wont be surprised that im there lol.

just my two cents

Whole Wheat Bread is what they say they are. Dirty south punk rock. They open their set with a Slayer intro and close it with Bulls on Parade. In between that was pure, sweaty punk energy from three talented guys. Yeah they're black. Is that supposed to be an issue? Who cares, they rock hard and flawlessly.

Whole Wheat Bread is an okay band on cd. They play mediocre skate-punk for the most part, with a few rap songs. I'd recommend seein them live over getting the cd though, they are much more exciting live. One thing that bothers me as a ska fan is how many people tagged them as ska...and the kid who said everyone was skanking at the show. WWB is not by any stretch of the imagination a ska band. I'm pretty sure they don't have a single ska song. If you are planning on buying this cd I hope you realize that it's a punk cd, not ska at all.

It's three black dudes playing awesome punk rock. think mxpx, but way better. This cd f*ckin rules.

This album had the best quality and strongest mix of songs of all of the Bread albums. Gates and Griffin meshed so much better and clearer on this production. If is such a solid song, but other choices had a more deeper quality to them - Too Much Love, Come Again, Live In Your Love.

I'm not a Bread Head but I've listened to this album hundreds of times. The only other Bead album I ever owned was their first which I could never get into. In my opinion this is not an album to listen to. However, it is the best album to study with. I could put this album on and it was the best background music ever. I would put this on my turntable with auto start on and let it play at least 2 or 3 times while I studied. Then I could turn it over and do the same on the other side. It sounds real good but if you tried to really listen to it I think you would get bored. I mean if you want to actually listen to Bread I would definitely go for "Baby I'm a Want You" but you could never study to that because it would always grab your attention away. I would play this all the time when I studied and I would never be pulled away to listen to it. The amazing thing is that it helped me think when I stopped to think. I used to try all kinds of other albums back then and none of them were decent to study with. Either they would pull my attention away with the music or would bother me because they were just not good. I would have to say that this is the best album I know of to have on if you want music on but you don't really want to listen to it or be bothered by it. Let's admit it this is a really great album with really good music which doesn't try in any way to grab you. Most pop music is trying so hard to either force your ear, blow you away, overstate something or worse that you either listen to it if you're in the mood or shut it off. This is just really sweet, simple rock with nice harmony without a bad song. Probably the most unpretentious pop music I have ever heard. To me it is the best I have heard of the entire genre - America, James Taylor, Loggins & Messina, early Eagles, Cat Stevens... I would have never known that this was a good album if I didn't get it in the bargain bin one day. How can you lose for $.99? You cannot go wrong if you get a copy of this album. Just don't expect to be able to put it on and blow you away or evn be singing the songs a week later. Just put it on and do something else and it will grow on you in a very subtle way. It always got me after I turned it off or when it would get to the end I noticed how nice it was.

Simply they're BEST record... less commercial then all the rest.
The tri fold album design will be a classic in Rock n Roll cover art.
Scoop it up while you can. There are good songs here that do not show up
on the best of CD releases, the cover concept by photographer Robert L Heimall is a work of art. The fidelity of the recording, as with most Elektra releases of that time is outstanding.
These guys knew how to record and produce. In Tribute... Take Comfort!

Not sure about why you should buy this album?

Here's what I think of the songs (bear in mind i have a sweet tooth for vocal melody and cool instrumentation):

1. Let your love go: Catchy as hell and a good rock tune
2. Take Comfort: Good strong guitar riff and it goes into some jefferson airplane space out parts tempered with strings... love those rock harmonies
3. Too Much Love: another one of their strong and sweet melodies
4. If: everyone who knows Bread knows this awesome timeless song
5. Be kind to me: mellow song, the good thing about the song is its chill out instrumentation... the melody is not powerful just easy... not something you'd remember or take an effort to.
6. He's a good lad: sweet melody, you can hear a little of the beatles here.
7. She was my lady: you'd definitely hear john lennon in this... but this doesnt have a strong melody... it just has a nice psychedelic feel to it.
8. Live in your love: kinda like elton john in a way.. the way the song starts. this song shifts all over the place... somewhat unhinged... not something i'd bother to listen to again or care to remember.
9. What a Change: not catchy nor worth remembering
10. I say again: Awesome starting instrumentation, quite trippy but no strength in the melody... i'd listen to the instrumentation again but i wont ever remember the vocals.
11. Come Again: ok this song is boring... the only thing remotely interesting is the instrumental part towards the end of it.
12. Truckin: dont be fooled by the country start... it has a cool 70s bridge part.

Don't buy this if you're not into collecting Bread. Only 5 catchy songs out of 12, you can get those 5 songs from other Bread compilation albums.

Okay, maybe I'm a little biased here as far as judging which Bread album was the best of their half-dozen stellar studio efforts, but there are many factors convincing me that "Manna" should have featured the subtitle "From Heaven."

The legendary love ballad "If" alone is almost enough to justify the album's "heavenly" appeal, but songs such as (among others) the harpsichord-driven rocker "Let Your Love Go" and the church-like organ solos on the ethereal "What A Change", as well as the album's centerpiece, "Come Again" (which, for all its melodrama, succeeds brilliantly in its shifts of tempo, mood, and overall dynamics that even most pop music craftsmen ignore) ultimately give this album a warm "Baroque" feel that makes the album a wonderful first choice if you were forced to choose among Bread's studio efforts instead of any of their numerous and sometimes notoriously repetitive best-of collections (with the notable exception of 1996's 2-CD "Retrospective" of course).

Sure, seasoned Wall-Of-Sound Veteran Larry Knechtel, who joined the band following the album's 1971 release, contributed a wealth of experience and his own subtle signature touches to succeeding (and also massively successful) Bread recordings, but the tensions that had just begun to brew within the previous lineup were likely a factor in producing an ultimately masterful 12-song body of work that no Bread album before or since could touch with a ten-foot, uh, loaf.

Enough already - just enjoy the album if you already own it ... if not, then get it post haste!!!

It is perhaps impossible to think of Bread without associating them with the laid back, syrupy ballads that made them famous. However, their first release reveals that they had a lot more to offer. In fact, while I find their "hits" to be enjoyable still after many years, this self-titled album brings more rock and blues influenced material to the front. I find this album very enjoyable overall. Fans of late 60's early 70's rock/pop should also find much to enjoy with this release. If you just like the radio hits, a best of collection might be good enough for you. But if you want more Bread that shows the true versatility of this talented group, this is one to own. The tight vocal harmonies and the style of writing that made them a household word in the 70's are there, but be prepared for much more.

- Scriptor

The first Bread album is clearly the best and, at the time, the most promising. There is not one bad composition, either from a lyrical or musical perspective. These songs held lots of future excitement in the day since the lyrics and music promised a level of sophistication that, unfortunately, the band never again delivered. The remastering/recording here is very clean. Sadly, in spite of a pretty good 2nd effort with "On the Waters", Bread degenerated into a litany of trite pop tunes aimed at teenybopper audiences (witness the silliness of pop-hero worship David Gates shamelessly wraps his silky voice around on "Guitar Man" or the mushy-mouthed romantic blabber of "Baby I'm-A Want You"). Too bad, this first CD is a real gem, even today; Bread could have been much more than the gooey commercial cop-out it became. After all, there is nothing wrong with making a buck as long as your product is of value.

I remember my weekly jaunts to my favorite record store. While thumbing the record bins during the holidays in 1969, I happened on this album. I had never heard of "Bread" and actually decided to purchase it because of the band's name and the album cover design. I was pleasantly surprised with the selection of songs I found... fun, pensive, thoughtful, and a bit of rock punch. Although not a totally cohesive ensemble for a classic album concept, this vinyl got a lot of play on my ol' record player. Delving into the album and the songs that each of the three artisits, Gates, Griffin, and Royer, wrote, it is fun to piece each singer's tunes together. Each seemed to have their own individual style and creativity, but fit together very well for my tastes.

Some of my favorite on the album are "Dismal Day," "London Bridge," "The Last Time," "Don't Shut Me Out," and "Friends and Lovers." Listeners will have fun, too, with the original "It Don't Matter To Me." This version has a much faster, up-beat tempo than most fans remember when it was released as a single some four years later.

Critics loved the album, but for reasons I can't understand to this day, it did not sell very well... some 30,000+ albums. I have heard some reflection that this album was released the same time that Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young released their debut album. While that could be true, frankly I don't see a comparison to CSNY and Bread. Bread's initial outing was more rock-orientated and appealing to a wider audience to me while CSNY empahsised more folk-based music to me. Ultimately, the good news was that "the music didn't die" here (if I can borrow a classic line) with this first album and Bread went on to give us many more memorable songs and wonderful moments and memories.

This album by Bread is a definite plus for this group; a very strong debut for a band that I only wish wouldn't have gotten tagged with the "soft rock" label. I prefer the James Griffin-Robb Royer songs more than the Gates penned tunes here, although all of them have a certain amount of sentimental quality to me. Standout tracks are "Move Over", "Could I", which has Beatles all over it. "Friends and Lovers", is pretty sweet too. I like the original version of "It Don't Matter To Me" for it's demo-ish quality. It's nice to hear a different version than the one I grew up with. This music was a mainstay in my house when I was a small boy in the early-mid 70's, but it's only been within the last few years that I bought all the albums, vinyl of course. Great album, and highly recommeded, as are all of them! Buy it, mello out, and let your mind go back in time to when bands like Bread had stellar musicianship before the 90's came along and became boy band based!

Forget the compilations, this album is filled with great Bread songs, including the rarer (better perhaps) version of It Don't Matter to Me. Even the non David Gates songs on here are pretty good and the sound - this is 1969 remember - simply sparkles.