25 Hits Special Collection

by

Donny Osmond

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For the Donny Osmond collector, this is the best there is; a relatively inclusive (although incomplete) compilation of his top material, from the early solo days, through the collaboration with Marie, to his resurgence with Soldier of Love and Sacred Emotion. In fact, the differences in some of the selections are so pronounced that one is tempted to wonder if the same artist is singing on all of these tracks.

There are two minor problems with the disc; first, it's not in chronological order, so the voice changes from track to track are a bit disconcerting; second, the technical difference in the mastering of the later releases makes the somewhat muddy sound of the early cuts more noticeable. After all, they were recorded on analog tape, and the sound engineers are only as good as the material they have to work with.

Nonetheless, this is a very good collection of teeny-bopper pop from a very talented artist. There are some true musical gems mixed in with the better known material (Hey, Girl and Morning Side of the Mountain stand out). It may be saccharine sweet but, at least you know what you're getting; good, wholesome, middle-of-the-road pop vocals.

Take a twenty-year journey down memory lane with Donny Osmond's 25-Hit Special Collection. You'll enjoy every minute of it!

This is a good collection of Donny Osmond material, including some of his duets with Marie. A lot of music for the money. Much of it doesn't hold up after all this time, though; the early stuff just sounds silly, with elevator music string sections and back-up singers to match. There are some photos on the CD liner notes that are ridiculously blurry; surely with all the pictures that exist of Donny, they could have found a couple that were in focus! The order of songs also leaves something to be desired, namely chronological order, so there are some jarring transitions from a song with Donny's high, sweet early teen voice to his deeper, grown-up voice and back.