This was pure AM radio at its best ("Lonely To Long"). Even their superlative first GREATEST HITS (Time/Peace) was one of the biggest selling LP's for many years, as new generations discovered the music.

This collection covers the main bases, (Groovin', People Got To Be Free , etc) and is a worthwhile purchase, at an excellent price. For those who do not have it, you should ,MUST, have it in your library. The alternatives include the much older "Ultimate Rascals" which is great at the same price (but the re-mastering is not as good), to the new 'Essentials" which I would NOT get, since it has less tracks, omits major hits, and is more expensive.

For the completist, and really the best archive for The Rascals, the Multi Disk Anthology is the best, but a bit expensive. This one will do just fine, especially at 1/3rd the cost!

I wish they would issue a wider 2 disk set, but until then, this is great and well worth the price. Highly recommended for "Good Lovin", "Groovin", "See" ALONE! Top down summer music, turn it up!

34 of 34 found the following review helpful:


Nothing But the Hits!  Apr 01, 2000 By Steve Vrana
How much Rascals does the average fan need? The Rascals Anthology (1965-1972) focuses too much on the band's experimental (read: non-commercial) period. Disc two of Anthology contains only one top ten hit. Consequently, if all you want are the hits, then The Very Best of the Rascals is the obvious choice. All thirteen of their top forty hits are here. [Only two minor hits are missing: 1970's "Hold On" (#51) and their last charting single from 1971 "Love Me" (#95).]

What you do get is some of the best blue-eyed soul of the Sixties: the R&B charged "I Ain't Gonna Eat My Hart Out Anymore," the super-charged remake of the Olympics' "Good Lovin'," followed by "You Better Run," the first of eight singles co-authored by vocalist Eddie Brigati and keyboardist Felix Cavaliere. They also wrote the groups three million-seller singles: "Groovin'," "A Beautiful Morning" and "People Got To Be Free."

This disc contains some of the most soulful music from one of the Sixties greatest bands. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

63 of 70 found the following review helpful:


Terrible Sound  Apr 06, 2003 By scoop25 "scoop25"
Like another reviewer, I anticipated good sound on this CD, given that it was from Rhino. FORGET IT. The sound quality is dreadful, muddy, hopeless. This is irritating when the CD does a poor job of reproducing cuts from early in their career -- mono cuts that one would have thought no one can murder. But by the end of the disc, when the sound quality implodes during "People Got To Be Free" and the rest -- well campers, lights out.
This is an offensively bad job of remastering and reproduction.

19 of 19 found the following review helpful:


Good Rascals  Oct 20, 2000 By Thomas Magnum
The Rascals have created some of the best rock 'n' soul music of all time. Of course everyone has heard "Good Lovin'" about a million times, but the band has so many other classics. They also had alot of range going from "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore", which is one of the most lowdown, gritty & dirtiest songs ever recorded to something like "It's A Beautiful Morning" which is one of the sweetest and prettiest. "I've Been Lonely Too Long", "Groovin'" & "A Girl Like You" could've been recorded by any Motown artist. "How Can I Be Sure" incorporates their Italian roots while they dabble in psychedelic sounds with "It's Wonderful". Later in their career their songs took on a more social awareness with songs like "People Got To Be Free", "Heaven & "See". Like most of the bands that peaked in the mid 60's, by the early 70's The Rascals broke up. This collection keeps their legacy alive and gives rock solid proof as to why they are enshrined in the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame.

27 of 30 found the following review helpful:


Good music, horrible sound quality  Jan 17, 2003 By S. Fischer
My excitement quickly turned to disappointment upon hearing a recording that sounds as if it was transcribed from a portable cassette player with a hand held microphone.

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