It’s been a long 16 years since Bon Jovi was last compiled, when Cross Road arrived for the holiday season of 1994, two years after Keep the Faith capped off a near-decade long run of dominance for the Jersey rockers. As it turned out, it was the first act of Bon Jovi’s career. A subdued second act followed in the ‘90s, with Jon Bon Jovi flirting with a solo career once again before returning to the fold late in the decade, with the band setting out for a decade of professionalism, sometimes cresting into the charts -- usually with the assist of a canny country crossover -- sometimes not. Greatest Hits condenses the highlights of this journey in a mere 16 songs, just two longer than Cross Road -- its simultaneously released cousin, Ultimate Greatest Hits, adds a disc with 12 additional songs -- and two of those are new tunes that are unlikely to show up on any subsequent best of. What’s left is indeed the cream of the crop, albeit presented almost randomly, opening with the twin hits “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “You Give Love a Bad Name” before winding through “It’s My Life,” “Have a Nice Day,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Bad Medicine,” and “Runaway,” finding time for extracurricular detours like Jon's solo “Blaze of Glory” and his duet with Jennifer Nettles, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.” There are hits missing, but you’d need to consult a chart book to figure out what they were, and if their absence matters, pick up the Ultimate Greatest Hits instead, which has another ten hits, mostly from the ‘90s on (“Keep the Faith,” “Lost Highway,” “Bed of Roses,” “These Days”), plus two additional new songs that will likely not make any subsequent best-of. But what these two collections prove is that less is indeed more: there’s nothing left unsaid on that first disc, no hit that would be missed; it tells everything.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Since Warner/Rhino's 2005 Ultimate Collection appeared a mere four years after their last Michael McDonald compilation -- 2001's The Very Best of Michael McDonald -- it may seem that it's a little early to rehash the same recordings yet again. That suspicion is unfounded, since The Ultimate Collection finally delivers what McDonald fans have been waiting for: his solo hits and Doobie Brothers smashes on the same disc. Not that this has every hit he ever had -- his minor 1991 single "All We Got" isn't here, for instance -- but most listeners won't notice the omissions since this 19-track collection has "What a Fool Believes," "Takin' It to the Streets," "Minute by Minute," "You Belong to Me," "Real Love," "It Keeps You Runnin'," "I Gotta Try," "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)," "No Lookin' Back," "Sweet Freedom," "Yah Mo B There," and even his recent 2004 hit cover of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Consequently, this is by far the best showcase for his smooth, soulful soft rock, and the one Michael McDonald disc fans both casual and fanatical should own.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Some Ultimate Collection’s can feel like a rip-off. But John Lennon’s Imagine avoids this pitfall by including many treasures, spread over four discs. This 2018 edition is organised like a journey, taking the listener from the writing process to the demo recording sessions in the former Beatle’s private studio at his home in Tittenhurst Park, near Ascot, and then to the final stages of production with crazy Phil Spector. The whole was remixed by Paul Hicks under Yoko Ono’s supervision, in the Abbey Road studios, using high definition 24/96 audio transfers from the first generation of multitrack tapes. These new mixes unveil a previously unheard sonic depth and impressive definition and clarity. The first CD features the remixed original album, the singles and B-sides. The second consists of all the outtakes and extras. The third includes the the raw studio recordings. And finally, the fourth tells the story of each song, from the demo to the final version, through a sort of audio documentary that dissects the whole album… It is fascinating to hear some of parts in isolation like the chords, the piano, or the vocals… But this generous Ultimate Collection shouldn’t draw your attention away from the essential part of it: the original album, released in September 1971. John Lennon’s post-Beatles phase was off to a flying start with an brilliant first solo attempt created with Yoko (John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band). The standard remained high on this Imagine album, with the eponymous single acquiring a legendary status (understatement) and becoming a timeless anthem of peace. Surrounded by the likes of George Harrison, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voormann, Alan White and Jim Keltner, the man with the spectacles from Liverpool once again shows he can do it all: moving and introspective ballads, (Jealous Guy), highly poetic lyrics, pop dreams, as well as mad rock’n’roll (It’s So Hard, I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier, Gimme Some Truth). The shock of the album comes when Lennon openly attacks his ex-comrade Paul McCartney on How Do You Sleep. All of this was produced by the mad scientist of sound, Phil Spector, who gives the album a unique quality that would go on to influence many other albums… © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Covering further ground than 2012's 30 Years of Bananarama and arguably more carefully curated than 2007's The Works, this expansive collection presents 40 tracks from the chart frequenting London act's four-decade career. Compiled by the original and remaining members, Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, while Glorious: The Ultimate Collection includes some of the band's biggest hits from their '80s heyday -- "Really Saying Something," "Robert De Niro's Waiting," "Venus" -- it primarily shines a light on their less celebrated later material. Also featured are "Feel the Love" and "Supernova," two club-focused singles recorded in 2023.© James Wilkinson /TiVo

The Ultimate Collection is quite different from the two-disc George Benson overviews that preceded it, including The George Benson Anthology. Like that 2000-released set, this one was also issued through Rhino, though there are only 17 tracks of overlap. The Ultimate Collection has even less in common with Legacy's The Essential George Benson (2006), which naturally favors Benson's Columbia and CTI output. The heart here is 1976-1983, an era during which Benson recorded for Warner and was regularly listed in the Top Ten of the Billboard R&B singles chart. All of those tremendous major hits are here, as are some less popular but solid A-sides and deeper cuts from that period. Only one selection, "White Rabbit," predates the 1976 commercial breakthrough "Breezin'," while several of Benson's varied albums from 20/20 through Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, released on Warner, GRP, and Concord, among other labels, are represented in some form. The smart selections, along with the liner notes, make for a fine representation of Benson's career from the late '70s through 2013.© Andy Kellman /TiVo

This double-disc collection covers the glory years of Uriah Heep extensively, with all the main cuts by the David Byron/Mick Box/Ken Hensley/Gary Thain/Lee Kerslake version of the group as well as earlier and later material. Chances are that serious Heep fans will have everything here, so this serves as more of an introduction for the new convert. There's plenty here that's aged well from the Bronze label years, such as "July Morning," "Easy Livin'," "The Magician's Birthday," "Look at Yourself," "Stealin'," etc. In fact, about the only thing that's not here, inexplicably, from the early years is the Box slide workout on the classic "Tears in My Eyes." There is also plenty from the later decades of the '80s, '90s, and beyond, when Box took the group to a new and heavier place -- somewhat recalling the UH of the Salisbury and Very 'Eavy...Very 'Umble eras. There are 34 tracks in all, with good sound and workmanlike liner notes. For the money, this is a good bang for the buck.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

The Ultimate Collection series was a rare success from Motown, one of the first of the label's many compilation series to do justice to some of the finest performers, arrangers, and musicians of the soul era. Nearly every artist with an entry was given the luxury treatment, with a disc-filling running time, excellent compilation decisions, and a pleasing design scheme that reflected the artists in their prime. The Four Tops' entry is arguably the best in the series, since the 25 tracks prove the perfect length to summarize the group's decade at Motown. From 1963 to 1972, the group reached the R&B charts 28 times, and all but a very few are presented here (among the missing are three decidedly unnecessary covers: "MacArthur Park," "If I Were a Carpenter," and "River Deep -- Mountain High"). Though the tracks aren't presented chronologically, thoughtful sequencing makes for an even better listen; The Ultimate Collection opens with "Reach Out (I'll Be There)," perhaps the ultimate pop single of the '60s, and flows smoothly through the best of their 1964-1967 prime: "Baby I Need Your Loving," "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)," "It's the Same Old Song," "Bernadette," and "Standing in the Shadows of Love." And though the hits began to dry up after the Holland-Dozier-Holland machine departed Motown in 1968, the Four Tops' later years are represented well with "It's All in the Game," "Still Water (Love)," "(It's the Way) Nature Planned It," and the driving non-album hit "A Simple Game." Unless you're the type of fan who needs the box set (2001's Fourever), this is all the Four Tops-on-Motown you really need to hear.© John Bush /TiVo

The Seekers' The Ultimate Collection not only lives up to its name, but is unique among the array of single-disc compilations devoted to the Australian quartet, in that it was programmed by the four members themselves, from what they consider their most important recordings. Additionally, it's the only compilation of the group's work to draw on their entire recorded history, from their 1963-vintage Australian recordings (which have never been widely available outside of their native country) right up to their 2003 recording of the Bee Gees' "Massachusetts." Done as a memorial tribute to Maurice Gibb, it's the only version of the song that this reviewer has heard to rival the Bee Gees' own. Also present are the group's best-known songs from their English folk-pop period, including "Come the Day," "I'll Never Find Another You," "A World of Our Own," "Someday, One Day," and "Georgy Girl," though the real value to the collection will be the many tracks that show the quartet as a straight folk group with no pop pretensions. Indeed, much of this disc may startle listeners who only know their later charting work -- when the Seekers do "Dese Bones Are Gonna Rise Again" (from 1963 in Melbourne), or even "The Wreck of the Old '97" and "We're Movin' On" (where Judith Durham belts out that gospel tune with operatic intensity), the latter two tracks cut in London for the EMI subsidiary World Record Club, they sound a lot more like the Weavers than like any British Invasion outfit. It's all good, and very different from the Seekers sound anthologized anywhere else. For all of its range, however, there's also a surprising degree of cohesion on this CD -- between the Melbourne-era sides and their Tom Springfield-produced London sides, such as "Allentown Jail," and the 1997-vintage "The Shores of Avalon" or "The Bush Girl," there is a unity of sound that is startling to ponder, across 34 years. All of their voices have held up well, and in the instrumental breaks on those modern sides, they even give a nod to the polish of their folk-pop period. In all, between the range of material, the exceptional sound quality, and the thorough annotation, this is a great place to finish a Seekers collection, but also just as good a place to start.© Bruce Eder /TiVo