Best Of... (Collector's Choice) Review

07/13/2005 6:35 AM, AMG


Collectors' Choice Music's 1999 collection The Best of David Houston is easily the most comprehensive collection of Houston's work yet assembled. Spanning 24 tracks over the course of one disc, this contains all of his country Top Ten hits for Epic, from "Mountain of Love" in 1963 to "Can't You Feel It" in 1974. No other collection comes close to the scope of this set, which is a little bit of a mixed blessing because, frankly, Houston's soaring falsetto can be a bit much to take over the course of 24 tracks, particularly when so many of the songs have the same slow tempo and the same gentle production. There are brilliant moments, of course, when Billy Sherrill's sweeping production and Houston's voice perfectly mesh, and those are the big hits, "Mountain of Love," "Almost Persuaded," "My Elusive Dreams," and "Livin' in a House Full of Love" among them. No matter how alluring they are in small doses, they can seem a little samey -- and Houston's voice can seem a little mannered -- when taken in one long sitting like this. Then again, the length of this collection does give room to songs that switch up the tempo a little or give Houston a chance to stretch his voice, as he does on "After Closing Time" when he builds on Jerry Lee Lewis' trademark delivery to great effect. So, even if this collection offers nearly too much to digest at once, it does offer more variety than other Houston collections -- which, after all, tend to recycle the same handful of songs -- and it's also easily the best and most thorough single-disc collection to ever be assembled on David Houston and will likely remain the standard by which all other Houston comps are judged. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide