No producer in the history of rock & roll has ever conjured up a more distinctive sound and style than Phil Spector, and more than a few other folks tried to crack the secret to his Wall of Sound during his glory days. Some of them came surprisingly close, as evidenced by this, Ace's second collection of Spector knockoffs from the 1960s. Phil's Spectre II isn't as strong or consistent a set as the first album, but still boasts more than its share of gems; several of the cuts are the work of folks who often worked with Spector and learned his tricks firsthand (Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers was behind the board for their tune "Nite Owl," and frequent Spector arranger Jack Nitzsche was the man behind "Bring It All Down" by the Satisfactions), while others were legendary studio cats figuring out how Phil did it (Shadow Morton cut "The Dum Dum Ditty" on the Goodies, while Al Kooper wrote and produced the deliciously silly Dylan "tribute" "Bobby's Come a Long Long Way"). Probably the most remarkable story in the liner notes comes from James Holvay, who explains how he and his partner, Gary Beisbier, hobbled together the session for Kane & Abel's "Break Down and Cry" in three hours using a handful of high-school students as backing musicians and came up with a record that sounded so much like Spector's Righteous Brothers work that the Brothers themselves tried to recall when they recorded it after first hearing it! And while a few of the songs here don't sound all that much like Spector's work, everything displays the obvious influence of his grand vision, and this is as much a tribute to the great days of pop record-making in the 1960s, when savvy producers ran the show as often as the artists, as it is to the man who was the king of the hill. Great listening and plenty of fun, but where is "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" by the Walker Brothers, still the greatest Phil Spector record Phil didn't bother to make? ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide