20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best of the Four Tops in Bloomington, MN

Though they have been around for nearly 40 years,
the Four Tops
were never stronger than during the '60s and early '70s. With a dozen Top 20 and five Top Ten hits,
the Tops
were just as their name implies. As part of their
Millennium Collection
,
Motown
has selected 11 of these hits for consideration as one of the pre-eminent groups of the era. From the trademark stylings of
Holland-Dozier-Holland
to a tune by
Smokey Robinson
(who himself once considered
to be "the baddest group around"), this best-of set is pretty much what it says to be. Though a cover of
"If I Were a Carpenter"
and a hyper-produced version of
Robinson's
"Still Water (Love)"
may not reach the reminiscent heights of
"Reach Out I'll Be There"
and
"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch),"
' devotions to originally named girls like
" (Walk Away) Renee"
"Bernadette"
and their tales of love wanted, won, and lost easily make them one of the best-loved groups of the last century, if not the last millennium. ~ Matthew Robinson