Pablo Cruise - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection - Best of Pablo Cruise (2001)

Two of Pablo Cruise's charting singles -- "Never Had a Love," which went to 87 in 1978 and "Slip Away," which peaked at 75 in 1981 -- are missing from their edition of Universal's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series. That means their remaining seven hits -- including all their biggest, like "Whatcha Gonna Do?," "Love Will Find a Way," "Cool Love," "I Want You Tonight," and "Don't Want to Live Without It" -- are here, along with five album selections. So, it may be possible to quibble that this isn't really definitive, solely on the basis of those missing hits, but for many listeners, this is as close to definitive as they need, since it really does contain Pablo Cruise's windswept, sun-mellowed blend of melodic Californian soft rock and lite jazz fusion. This music may recall the times -- that netherworld of the late Carter administration and pre-Reagan assassination attempt -- but its best moments (those aforementioned singles) are soft classics of the era, and this is one of the best ways to hear them.