Search - Maxine Brown :: Maxine Brown - 25 All Time Greatest Hits

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Zub | Forks Twp., PA | 04/01/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There have been a number of Maxine Brown compilation CD's issued over the CD-era years, with the better ones coming from across the pond via Ace Records of the U.K. while the domestic ones have been a sorry lot. Here, Varese Vintage does a quality job sonically, but selection-wise, misses the mark to some extent. Though the majority of her most commercially successful singles from the Nomar and Wand labels are here, her charting song from ABC-Paramount, "My Time For Cryin'" and her final pop-charting entry, "We'll Cry Together" are absent. Also, her five charting duets with labelmate Chuck Jackson are not here, a debatable decision for a "25 Greatest Hits" collection. Perhaps licensing difficulties are to blame but with 15 charting entries to her credit yet there being 25 tracks on the CD, including only eight of those hits hardly qualifies for "all time greatest hits" status. Nevertheless, this collection does what it does well and the sound quality is better than found in other collections with many tracks (1,3-5,7,8,11,12,14,23-25) in stereo. The eight-page liner notes booklet provides a backround history of Brown by Bill Dahl along with pics and illustrations. Though not as exhaustive as it should/could have been, this is by far the best CD on Brown to date and will have to fill the bill until a truly comprehensive piece comes to market."