The Righteous Brothers

With Bill Medley moaning low and Bobby Hatfield wailing high over the grandest Wall of Sound production Phil Spector ever achieved, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," from 1964, may be the most dramatic ballad single ever released. All echoes, kettledrums, and surging strings, the instrumental track is wonderful, ersatz Wagner, but it's the vocal duel, mounting from resignation to longing to hysteria, that provokes the chills and the erotic/divine madness. It's odd then, that this California duo's 1963 debut, "Little Latin Lupe Lu," had been such a dud. Medley actually wrote the sassy rocker, but it was left to Mitch Ryder to fire it up; the Brothers, in fact, with the exception of the nifty Little Richard-like "Justine" (1965), never could rock convincingly at any speed past mid-tempo -- their artform was rhapsodic ballads. Dark and Lincolnesque, Medley was the baritone and brains behind the operation, and his stellar moments were many: He tends to dominate such glories as "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" and "Hung on You." A small, blond ex-jock, Hatfield was the more tender deliverer -- it's his warm elegance that carries "Unchained Melody," the 1965 hit that, recycled, got Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze all hot and bothered in Ghost. No fools, the pair spent much of their career attempting reruns of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," either by working with Spector or covering Mann-Weill songs. Only "See That Girl" bordered on self-parody, however, and while "Ebb Tide" and "The White Cliffs of Dover" were sappy clunkers, most of the Brothers' hits carried a rare dignity, especially considering the ultra-romantic songs they covered.

Rhino's brilliant two-CD Anthology collects all the best Righteous Brothers performances -- and these epics remain riveting. Unchained Melody, not quite as comprehensive or well-packaged, runs a close second. The Moonglow Years is a good representation of the duo's early days. Each time out, the boys go for broke, overpowering the listener with feeling. The Reunion album, sadly, doesn't work; especially embarrassing, too, is The Best of the Righteous Brothers, Vol. 2, an album of lame rerecordings of their classics. (PAUL EVANS)

From the 2004 The New Rolling Stone Album Guide