All-Time Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Review

07/13/2005 4:21 AM, AMG


"A few years ago, RCA Records released the first volume of Neil's greatest hits and it has proven to be one of their best sellers," writes compilation co-producer Steve Kolanjian in his liner notes to this album, adding, "Not all his hits were covered in that volume so here, at last, is another collection of songs that made Neil Sedaka the superstar that he is." Nearly everything Kolanjian says here is untrue, or at very least deceptive. In particular, while it may be technically accurate to say that not all of Sedaka's RCA hits were covered in the 1988 album All Time Greatest Hits, every one that made the Top 30 in Billboard's Hot 100 was. Sedaka's initial hitmaking period stretched across four years, from early 1959 to mid-1963, and All Time Greatest Hits covers that period. All that's left are six singles that got no higher than number 33, most of them made between the second half of 1963 and early 1966, as Sedaka struggled unsuccessfully to avoid being swept off the charts by the British Invasion. All of those singles are included on All Time Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, along with LP tracks and singles that didn't chart at all, plus the occasional stray B-side and alternate take. Most of these recordings have never been issued on an album before. A more appropriate title for this disc would be All Time Greatest Flops. That said, much of the material has merit. Sedaka toys with country sounds ("The Same Old Fool"), gets bluesy ("Don't Lead Me On"), and otherwise experiments in search of a new hit formula. Sedaka fans will welcome the rarities: the version of "The Diary" is an alternate take representing Sedaka's first work in an RCA studio; 15 of the tracks are heard in stereo for the first time; and track 21 finds Sedaka recording a promotion for an Australian radio station. All of that should make this disc a must for collectors. But casual fans will find themselves puzzled as they struggle to recognize most of these so-called hits. (Note to Steve Kolanjian: Peter Allen and Chris Allen, co-authors with Dick Everitt of the minor Sedaka chart entries "The World Through a Tear" and "The Answer to My Prayer," were not brothers, even though they performed under the name the Allen Brothers.) ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide