The Very Best of Michael McDonald

by

Michael McDonald

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Michael McDonald's distinctive voice and strong songwriting abilities helped turn the Doobie Brothers into a hit-making machine. Michael's outstanding vocals helped sustain his success after he left the Doobie Brothers. "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)," taken from his first solo album, made it all the way to #4 in 1982. However, Michael's songwriting seemed to suffer from a certain sameness, as evidenced by his songs "Matters Of The Heart," "By Heart" and "Take It To Heart" on this collection. Michael's solo career is also noteworthy for his duets, particularly with James Ingram on "Yah Mo B There" (#19 in 1984), and with Patti LaBelle on the smash hit "On My Own" (#1 in 1986). The superb song "Sweet Freedom," which peaked at #7 in 1986, outshines most of the other songs on this collection. Michael's version of the Stevie Wonder classic "Higher Ground," which was previously unreleased, is another highlight on this compilation. Michael McDonald would go on to even greater success covering other Stevie Wonder songs on his recent "Motown" album. Too bad this collection was released before that album came out.

Of course, being a huge Michael McDonald fan, I cannot be displeased with much that he puts out. Particularly on this album, I was impressed with the very powerful remake of "Higher Ground", and I cannot believe it was never released before. Yet I was disappointed to see that, for those who do not have all of Michael's collections (as I do), they will be missing out on "Hey Girl" and his duet with Aretha Franklin, "Everchanging Times". If you read the cover inside the CD, a lot of the songs (although good) didn't even reach the charts, so I question why they are there. I disagree with someone who mentioned he should've thrown in Doobies material; in my opinion, there are many Greatest Hit packages for the Doobies and doing so for the solo Greatest would just be redundant. I do, however, agree that he could have included the phenomenal performance of "Minute by Minute" played at the New York Rock and Soul Revue. I would recommend this album for those that need a "taste" of Michael's music, but it's a bit lacking for his long-time fans. With the great music I'm hearing on his new album, "Blue Obsession", I think he should've waited until after that release to make this Greatest Hits compilation, because I predict at least a few songs will make it big.