The Jackson 5: The Ultimate Collection (2LP) [UME]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set gathers 21 tracks from the group's Motown years, 1969 to 1975, including solo hits from Michael and a Jermaine cut backed by his brothers. It's the condensed version of the four-disc Soulsation! box, with a '95 remix of "It's Your Thing" to close.

This edition

• 2LP set

About the album

It took the Jackson 5 exactly four singles to make history at Motown: "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" all went to No. 1, one after another. Those four open this collection back to back, which makes for quite an opening. Motown put The Ultimate Collection together in 1995 as a single-sitting guide to the brothers' years on the label.

The bubblegum soul of "Mama's Pearl" and the slow-burning "Never Can Say Goodbye" sit beside a tender cover of Smokey Robinson's "Who's Lovin' You" and a romp through the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing." Michael's solo sides get their due with "Got to Be There," "Rockin' Robin" and "I Wanna Be Where You Are," and Jermaine takes the lead on "Daddy's Home." By the mid-'70s the group had found the dance floor, and "Get It Together" and "Dancing Machine" point the way toward disco, with "I Am Love" stretching out over two parts.

Few groups have ever packed so much joy into so few minutes per song. Michael was 11 when "I Want You Back" came out, which puts most of our own childhood achievements in sobering perspective.

Also at Kops: more The Jackson 5 on vinyl · browse Motown

Tracklist

Listen

On Motown / UMe (cat# B0032576-01), a reissue of the 1995 compilation.