There are 51 tracks on this double CD and my favorites are too numerous to mention. (I was stunned to find out that "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" was originally done by Frankie Valli; I assumed that the Walker Brothers was the original).

For those who thought about buying the 25th Anniversary Collection I would recommend getting this package instead. First of all it's cheaper, although there are three less songs here. (The songs not on this collection are "Lucky Ladybug", "New Mexicali Rose", "Saturday's Father", and "Electric Stories". Frankie Valli's "Fallen Angel" is the one song included here that's not on the 25 Anniversary Collection.) Secondly, the sound quality is significantly better here. And third, the package is more attractive here. You can't go wrong.

If you like this anthology, don't forget to check out "Off Seasons", a companion piece that shows that the Four Season's b-sides and album tracks are just as worthy as their hits. (You can find "Saturday's Father" on that CD.)

Simply an essential collection.


GOT IT ALL   August 27, 2002
 26 out of 29 found this review helpful

After hearing a lot of the 4 Seasons (and Frankie Valli) on an oldies station recently, I went looking for a CD that had all the hits from my childhood on it (my first mistake). Once I perused a few CDs, I realized how may hits they actually had and gave up hope of finding them all on a single CD. While checking out the double disc sets, I found that many had some of the hits but were all lacking in some respect (such as ignoring the solo Valli stuff). When I found this collection, I knew that this is what I was looking for because it contained everything and then some. Kudos to Rhino for the excellent packaging.


Absolutely Perfect (digitally remastered) Collection   November 19, 2002
 20 out of 20 found this review helpful

This collection is a Four Seasons/Frankie Valli fans dream come true. It included every charting single of the group (save 2 christmas songs) and also of Valli as a soloist. With 51 tracks in all amounting to over 2 hours of music, it is the definitive collection. Also of great notice is the A+ digital remastering job done by Rhino Records. If you have listened to the Four Seasons for a while, you will immediately notice the superior quality of this first ever digital remastering of Valli's music. I especially notice the remastering on "Save it For Me". All the songs sound exceptionally clearer, louder, and tighter. This is a perfect collection. If you have the 1988 Anthology which had 26 tracks, I still reccomend this collection, in fact I reccommend it even more if you already have that collection. Songs like "Little Boy in Grown Up Clothes" "The Proud One" and "Betrayed" which didn't appear on the 1988 record set all are here in their remastered glory. Also of note is the great 30+ page full color booklet it came with, which includes a detailed history of the group with color pictures, and also the chart positions of all the songs included, plus for LP's they released. It also details the group members all the way up to today. This is a GREAT collection and I reccomend it over any other Valli collection. Enjoy!


A Terrific Album!   July 31, 2002
 15 out of 16 found this review helpful

Frankie Valli and his group, the Four Seasons, were among the most successful of all of the many rising out of the sounds and excitement of the early 1960s. With a phenomenal string of top-ten hits, starting with "Sherry', they blazed a trail of unbroken follow-up recording that extended for years. I remember seeing them at the local Boys Club gym right after they had released one of their biggest numbers, "Dawn", and they were terrific. With songs like "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like A Man", Let's Hang On (To What We've Got)", and "Girl Come Running", they established themselves as one of the perennial favorites with the teen pop audience.

They just kept pumping out new releases, and with an amazing string of consecutive hits, they gave us everything from "Candy Girl" to "Bye, Bye, Baby", from "Toy Soldier" to "Working My Way Back To You". To a large extent the songs are quite similar, all very formulaic and with predictable subjects and life lessons to be learned. Yet the way they delivered these songs was indeed quite unique and quite impressive, that familiar falsetto booming in the forefront to a terrific chorale background, and a similarly great instrumental arrangement. There's quite a selection of great songs here, ranging from all of their work as a group to Frankie Valli's later solo career, and I can guarantee you will sit up and enjoy all of the numbers included here. Enjoy!