All Hits, No Pits - Ideal Gifts

THE GUSH: What a gem. What. A. Gem. Going through The Definitive Collection makes you wonder (no pun intended) why the amazing Stevie doesn’t get lauded more, appreciated more, and more-d more. After all, it turns out that his hits have been repeatedly sampled by different artists, from Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” to Will Smith’s act of hook lifting from the song “Sir Duke to fuel his hit, “Wild Wild West.”

PROGRAM FOR REPEAT: “You are the sunshine of my life,” “Overjoyed.” “Lately.” “Superstition.” “Uptight (Everything’s alright).” There’s almost 40 years of first-rate music in this two-disc collection. Thanks Stevie.

U2 - The Best of 1990-2000

THE GUSH: Twenty years on from singing “New Year’s Day” in the frozen tundra, Irish band U2 have emerged as the band of a generation. In this second batch of greatest hits, the band began the 90s by bidding goodbye to the fiery rock of The Joshua Tree before venturing into the musical wilderness and flirting with electronic music (before the mass popularity of superstar DJ’s and “Chill Out” stylings). As the 21st century approached, Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry found a fresh and energetic sound closer to their early rock and roll efforts. Take ‘em or leave ‘em U2 are a musical force to be reckoned with.

PROGRAM FOR REPEAT: “One,” “Staring At The Sun” “Mysterious Ways” Stuck in a moment”

The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks

THE GUSH: Mick, Keith and company have withstood all immunity challenges, reward challenges, the drugs and the mayhem to emerge as the survivors of the rock and roll soap opera. What more can be said but....

PROGRAM FOR REPEAT: “Satisfaction”, “You can’t always get what you want”, “Ruby Tuesday..”. Forget it. You’ll want to hear all of them, freshly re-mastered and sounding Technicolor clear. Plus a track usually ignored in Stones compilations, “Shattered” gets included in this package. But why no....

Chicago - The Chicago Story- Complete Greatest Hits

THE GUSH: Stop the sneering right now. Though perceived as a bung of balladeering softies (no) thanks to hits like “Hard Habit to Break” and “You’re the inspiration”, the band Chicago actually began as  a pioneering rock-jazz improved sensation. The hybrid of rock, jazz, R&B and a brass section WAS as crazy as it sounds, but out of that unusual mix came tracks like “25 or 6 to 4”” Saturday in the Park” and yes, the pre-cursor to their ballad superstardom, “If you leave me now”. They don’t make intricately-arranged but simply joyful songs like “Does anybody really know what time it is?” anymore. In a word: classics.

PROGRAM FOR REPEAT: Practically all of Disc 2, especially the one-two-three punch of “25...” “Saturday.. “ and “Questions 67 and 68”

Nirvana -  Nirvana

THE GUSH: Where were you at the dawn of the 90s, and what were you listening to?  One year into the 20th century’s final decade, a band from Seattle recorded an album the band’s label hoped would sell half a  million copies. But the modestly- released opus that was Nevermind, changed everything and re-routed the musical road forever. Nirvana’s sophomore work “loudly announced that Michael Jackson was toast and rock was a weapon again”. The shattering heart of “Smells like Teen Spirit can be heard beating on every rock record released since.

PROGRAM FOR REPEAT: Nirvana was certainly loud, but the late Kurt Cobain felt the bad had “not done enough with power of the quiet,” not was his influence by the melodic Beatles reflected in their songs. To remedy this, Kurt, Krist  Novaselic and Dave Grohl created tracks like “All apologies,” “Dumb” and especially, “About a girl”