90s Biggest Hits

For many mainstream listeners, Toby Keith first appeared on their radar in 2002 with "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," the blistering counterpoint to Alan Jackson's sorrowful "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" that turned Keith into a talk radio phenomenon and a genuine American star. Like many overnight success stories, Toby Keith's celebrity didn't happen overnight – it was the beginning of his second act, as the 2008 double-disc compilation 35 Biggest Hits makes plain….

Originally released in the U.K. in time for Christmas 1972, The Sweet's Biggest Hits was a straightforward roundup of a dozen tracks culled from both the band's own chart-busting catalog and, also, songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman's occasional efforts for others – both "Tom Tom Turnaround," originally a hit for New World, and "Chop Chop," recorded by DJ Tony Blackburn, were originally reprised on the Sweet's Funny How Sweet Coco Can Be LP. Further swaths of this collection, too, are duplicated from that set – the Sweet's own singles "Funny Funny" and…

This is one of those albums that requires the prospective purchaser to flip it over to the back and read the small print. "Recordings mastered from the legendary U.S. coast to coast T.V. specials" is what that print says, and while The Biggest Hits is certainly a generous collection, containing 30 tracks and running over 76 minutes, it does not include the original hit versions of Tom Jones favorites "Green, Green Grass of Home," "What's New Pussycat?," "She's a Lady," "Delilah," "Without Love," or "Say You'll Stay Till Tomorrow." Applause sometimes signals a live performance, but otherwise the exact sources of the material remain murky. And the title The Biggest Hits seems intended to suggest that Jones is performing songs that were hits for somebody, though not necessarily for him.

Hard to believe, but there's never been a good single-disc overview of Elton John's biggest hits available in America until 2007's 18-track Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits. (The American release subtracted one track and was titled Rocket Man: Number Ones.) He's had plenty of collections, including a good single-disc European set that circulated in the late '90s, but Rocket Man is the first to really offer a solid career-spanning overview as a single-disc set…

Greatest Hits is a lean yet complete overview of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' biggest singles from their first prime. Sure, it's possible to pinpoint a few great songs missing, but the group had a lot of great songs during the late '70s and '80s…