Encore!

suffers from the absence of the kind of signature performance (e.g., or ) that galvanizes 's other early-'60s dates for -- the opener, a stinging tale of romantic rejection, was the record's biggest hit and its brightest moment, complete with a powerful backing vocal courtesy of . But like so many LPs in the pre- era, there's a surplus of filler that renders unnecessary for all but completists -- his attempts to overcompensate for the lackluster material result in several absurdly dramatic performances likely to grate on the ears of most listeners. [ was later reissued on CD via the British label as part of a two-fer alongside its follow-up, .] ~ Jason Ankeny