Helen Reddy's No Way to Treat a Lady/Music, Music is the fourth installment of Raven's admirably packaged two-fer releases, and contains those 1975 and 1976 albums, in their entirety, plus one rare bonus track ("One Way Ticket" from 1968). No Way to Treat a Lady contains the titular Top Ten hit and a host of other, primarily piano-driven, ballads (like the Neil Sedaka-penned "Don't Let It Mess Your Mind" and the Paul Williams/Kenny Ascher gem "You Know Me"), as well as some forays into country-pop, bossa nova, and blues. Music, Music is a decidedly more eclectic and upbeat affair, pulling in stylistic cues from all over the place. There are breezy, Bacharach-ian excursions ("Gladiola," "You Make It So Easy"), bluesy numbers ("Get Off Me Baby," "Ladychain"), light country ("Mama"), jazzy ballads (Paul Williams' torchy contribution, "Nice to Be Around"), and even a little Philly soul ("I Can't Hear You No More"). Reddy tackles them all with admirable gusto and shows a grittier side than she had on her previous albums. Looking at the songwriting credits, it is obvious that there are some heavy hitters contributing here, but there are quite a few exceptional studio musicians in tow as well -- most notably, future Toto founders Jeff Porcaro, David Hungate, and David Paich. After a long string of streamlined, ultra-successful albums, No Way to Treat a Lady and (especially) Music, Music provide Reddy with a chance to move a bit outside of her strictly ballad-oriented repertoire and show her to be a commendably versatile vocalist. ~ J. Scott McClintock, All Music Guide
Joseph Wissert (Producer), Ian McFarlane (Release Preparation), Andrew Garrant (Photography), Peter Shillito (Release Preparation), Ian McFarlane (Annotation), Glenn A. Baker (Release Preparation), Nick DeCaro (Arranger), Warren Barnett (Mastering), Kevin Mueller (Release Preparation), Nick DeCaro (Conductor), Ian McFarlane (Liner Notes)
