Anthology 50th Ann. [Original recording remastered, Import, Best of]

Disc 1 features every hit they scored on Motown. Whether you enjoy "Baby, I Need Your Lovin'", "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch", "It's The Same Old Song", "Reach Out", "Standing In The Shadows Of Love" or "Bernadette", you'll find all your favorite songs on this disc. Also, there are some rarely heard tracks included here, such "Ask The Lonely", "7 - Rooms Of Gloom", "You Keep Running Away" and their magnificent covers of the hits "Walk Away Rene", "If I Were A Carpenter' (their version easily buries Bobby Darin's), "It's All In The Game", "River Deep, Mountain High" (with post - Diana Ross Supremes) and "MacArthur Park" which closes disc one.

Disc 2 is very different from anything on the first disc. While the first disc solely from the Motown era, the bulk of disc 2 is made up by their 1972 - 79 stint at Dunhill. During this time, they scored two top 10 smashes, the funky message song "Keeper Of The Castle" (number 10, not number 4 as the liner notes list) and the mooth, soothing "Ain't No Woman (Like The I've Got)" (number 4), the latter of which is among their most popular songs. The rest of their 1970s' recordings featured here weren't hits (with the exception of the top 20 "Are You Man Enough" from "Shaft In Africa"), but remain just as good, especially "One Chain Don't Make No Prison", "Midnight Flower", "Catfish" and "H.E.L.P.".

As for the 1980s' hits, there's the huge 1981 hit "When She Was My Girl", as well as the sensual "Tonight I'm Gonna Love You All Over" and the gorgeous "I Believe In You And Me", which became a hit for Whitney Houston in 1996. There are two songs they did that were recorded for movies: the "Grease 2" theme "Back To School Again" (as one reviewer already pointed out, this song was the only good thing in the film) and "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space", a Levi Stubbs solo number from "Little Shop Of Horror" (Stubbs did the voice of Audrey in the movie". Also there's the lush "I Just Can't Walk Away" from their short - lived Motown return, and "Indestructible", a duet with an uncredited Smokey Robinson that became their final hit in 1988.

This is such a great set. It's not entirely complete, as the singles "Ain't That Love" (from their short - live stint at Columbia Records), "You Gotta Have Love In Your Heart" (another post - Ross Supremes duet) and "Sad Hearts" (a 1983 release) are missing. But they are not among their most popular recordings, and their absence is not notable. This is a set that I hope you will consider buying soon.