Huey Lewis / The News GREATEST HITS

Huey Lewis & the News: Chris Hayes (guitars); Mario Cipollina (bass instrument); Huey Lewis (background vocals); Johnny Colla, Sean Hopper, Bill Gibson .
Personnel: Johnny Colla (vocals, guitar, saxophone); Chris Hayes , Stef Burns (vocals, guitar); Huey Lewis (vocals, harmonica); Sean Hopper (vocals, keyboards); Bill Gibson (vocals, drums); Rob Sudduth (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Rev. Ron Stallings (tenor saxophone); Marvin McFadden (trumpet).
Additional personnel: Stef Burns (guitars); John Pierce (bass instrument); Rob Sudduth, Rev. Ron Stallings, Marvin McFadden.
Audio Remasterer: Robert Vosgien.
Liner Note Authors: Huey Lewis; Jimmy Kimmel.
Recording information: San Francisco, CA (02/21/1985).
Photographers: Jeffrey Mayer; Robert Specter; Aaron Rapoport; Roger Ressmeyer.
There have been many Huey Lewis & the News hits compilations released overseas, but 2006's simply named Greatest Hits is only the second U.S. comp, following Time Flies, which appeared a decade earlier. At a generous 21 tracks, Greatest Hits is not only five songs longer than Time Flies, but it's a better-chosen collection, too. It may be missing "Bad Is Bad," but it has a stronger selection of early songs, like the wonderful "Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do," plus a better selection of latter-day songs, including Huey's duet with Gwyneth Paltrow on Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'." That doesn't mean the disc is perfect, however; although this does have stronger representation of their earlier material, it could use just a little bit more, and the non-chronological sequencing is a bit of a headache. That said, this has all the hits and no weak songs, making it the best Huey Lewis & the News compilation yet. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop