Greatest Hits

by

Wilson Phillips

Edit

The Wilson Phillips are all about the harmonies, their vocals are just supreme. Carnie, Chynna and Wendy are three talented ladies. Their self-titled debut album produced by Glenn Ballard is the main source for this long-awaited Greatest Hits. The 5 singles released from that record are here included in their radio airplay version, a delight for any fan w/o the singles. "Hold On" will always be their uplifting anthem all time classic, "Impulsive" it's a very moving and fast pop song, "You're In Love" is a tame melancolic ballad of letting go, "Release Me" heartbreakin up-ballad, "The Dream Still Alive" one of the most uplifting song ever made, the singles released from their second album where, not as succesful as their predescesor, "You Won't See Me Cry" a romantic ballad that does not achieve the emotion from any of the previous songs release, "Give It Up" an uptempo song, that sounded dated by 1992, "Flesh and Blood" was the most intimate and best single release of their sophomore album, but the only one to not hit the HOT 100, after that the group disbanded til 2004, but this album sure gives you a perfect view of the previous work of the Wilson Phillips as a groups and as individuals, highlighting the solo single from Chynna "Nacked and Sacred" a defenitly underrated song, this album is a must have to any POP fan, and does fullfil the appetitte for true hits.

Do not get me wrong, Wilson Phillips were hit makers. Smash hits even, three number one singles in fact. The girls had perfect pop number ones in the empowering "Hold On", the passionate "You're In Love", and the liberating "Release Me". They also went top five with "Impulsive", and top twenty with "The Dream Is Still Alive" and "You Won't See Me Cry". Their last certified top forty hit single was the bouncy "Give It Up". That's a total of seven top forty smash hits. Seven tracks? That's hardly strong enough to base a hits collection around, but they did it, with a heavy bit of padding.

The flop eighth Wilson Phillips single "Flesh & Blood" is included, for instance. It's not a suprise that it flopped, it's hardly a good song. "Daniel", an Elton John cover, was pulled from an Elton tribute collection for this album, along with, of all things, an old interview pulled off the b-side of the "You're In Love" single. Also culled from that same single is a live perfomance of "Hold On" recorded in Japan. The Eagles' "Hotel California" gets a live reworking from the girls, also recorded in Japan, it was pulled off the single for their last top twenty hit "You Won't See Me Cry".

The last three tracks included are the failed tracks of the girls various solo projects. Chynna Phillips' self-penned mid-tempo "Naked & Sacred" is a lovely pop song, and should honestly have done better than it did. Carnie & Wendy Wilson's collaboration with their father, Beach Boy legend Brian Wilson yielded some pretty nice songs, but really, the songs aren't as good as the trio's material or even Chynna's solo song.

Coming together, the album isn't bad, it's just weird. Wilson Phillips don't need a hits collection, especially if they're going to bad it with dull live versions and an interview. Their singles were great, but not in great enough number to deserve a collection like this. They should've waited.