Eight months after
Motown
/
UTV
released the excellent
Definitive Collection
, the first truly comprehensive
Lionel Richie
collection, they released another solid
Richie
comp by giving him an entry in their
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection
series. While this is not nearly as exhaustive as
Definitive
, it does contain many of the basics -- namely
"You Are,"
"All Night Long (All Night),"
"Hello,"
"Say You, Say Me,"
"Dancing on the Ceiling"
-- as well as three
Commodores
tracks (
"Zoom,"
"Lady [You Bring Me Up],"
"Jesus Is Love"
) that were not on
, along with the fine solo hit
"My Love,"
which was the one track not on the previous compilation that really should have been included. There are a lot of songs that should have made the cut if this was going to be a truly representative, excellent 11-track recap of his solo career --
"Running With the Night,"
"Endless Love,"
"Truly,"
and
"Penny Lover,"
to begin with -- and the
tracks on
fit the
soft rock
vibe of his solo career better than those featured here, but this isn't bad for a budget-line compilation, since it's an enjoyable, concise sampler. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine