Eddie Rabbitt - Greatest Hits (1995)

CEMA Special Market's 1995 Eddie Rabbitt collection, Greatest Hits, may be a budget-line collection released as part of their 10 Best Series, but don't let that stop you from picking up this collection, since it is the only way to get his Liberty hits from the early and mid-'80s on CD. Warner has issued two collections of his Elektra hits -- one of which, 2003's Essentials, contained two of the songs here, "The Best Year of My Life" and the Crystal Gayle duet "You and I" -- but the great majority of these songs have not been easily available on CD. In the case of the number one hits "Step by Step" and "Someone Could Lose a Heart Tonight," their absence has been nearly criminal, since they're two of his very best songs and singles, but there are several other big hits here: "You Can't Run From Love," "B-B-B-Burnin' Up With Love," "Warning Sign," and "She's Comin' Back to Say Goodbye." It's not a complete selection of his hits for the label -- which makes the inclusion of the OK non-hits "Runnin' With the Wind" and "Years After You" a little puzzling -- but it's far better than nothing, and until somebody releases a comprehensive Eddie Rabbitt retrospective, this has to stand as not just the best CD of these Liberty recordings, but the only way to get this material at all. For any fan, it's necessary until something better comes along.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo