I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the offices of Universal/Motown when they began putting the various releases in this series together eight or nine years ago. If only to hear explanations as to why some were to contain 11 tracks and others 12, and how they arrived at a consensus as to what constituted the "best" of the various artists.
To be sure, by any standards applied, tracks 1, 3 to 6 and 10 and 11 have to be considered among the best of this R&B voocal group from Detroit who, from 1964 to 1988, put 45 songs into the Billboard Pop Hot 100, 52 onto the R&B charts, and seven on the Adult Contemporary (AC) listings.
But when it comes to tracks 2 and 7 to 9 there were four that were as good, or better, such as It's The Same Old Song [# 2 R&B/# 5 Hot 100 in August 1965], 7 Rooms Of Gloom [# 10 R&B/# 14 Hot 100 in June 1967], Keeper Of The Castle [# 7 R&B/# 10 Hot 100 late in 1972], and Are You Man Enough? [# 2 R&B/# 15 Hot 100 in late 1973].
So, who decided that the fans had it wrong at the outset and that those hits should be omitted in favour of Ask The Lonely [# 9 R&B/# 24 Hot 100 in March 1965], Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over) [# 5 R&B/# 18 Hot 100 in March 1966], and If I Were A Carpenter [# 17 R&B/# 20 Hot 100 in June 1968]?
Not that there's anything wrong with those four. But if I'm deciding to present just 11 of their best, I would see to it that the contents at least reflected that claim.
I would not go so far as to reduce the evaluation to one, as one reviewer did, but I certainly cannot go higher than two, in spite of the excellent sound quality, nice group photos, and the three pages of liner notes by Stu Hackel. For such a seminal 1960/1970s group as The Four Tops, a R&R Hall Of Fame inductee in 1990, an 11-track CD is merely a teaser. My advice it so spend a little bit more and get something with some substance.
These guys are fantabulous! All the songs bring back such wonderful memories. I wish today's (music?) sounded just like this.
The Best of the Four Tops Millennium Collection is a great way to start your collection. I love the Millennium collection CD's. You Always know you are getting the best of the best in these sets. They are always the original version of the hits we all know and love! The Four Tops entry into this series gives us 11 of the best tracks from their career. Their Biggest hits are all here. Baby I Need Your Loving , Reach Out I'll Be there, I Can't Help Myself(Sugar Pie,Honey Bunch), Ain't No Woman(Like The One I Got. It is a wonderful collection of classics. Very nice packaging, Lots of photos and informative liner notes. A lot of care and attention to detail goes into these sets and top them off that you get them at a budget price makes it one great deal
Growing up in Southeast Michigan in the 1960's, nothing rings truer to my ears than Motwon music. To have this music again brings back simple memories.
I love every song on this list. There isn't a song that I don't remember loving as a teenager and still love today.
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