At 15 songs,
Portrait
/
Epic
Legacy
's 2006 compilation
The Best of Aldo Nova
is three tracks shorter than the previous
Aldo Nova
hits collection, 1992's
Portrait of Aldo Nova
, yet that doesn't necessarily mean that it's an inferior collection. Where the now out of print 1992 disc focused heavily on his excellent self-titled 1981 debut,
The Best
is evenhanded, containing five songs apiece from his albums for
: 1981's
, 1983's
Subject...Aldo Nova
, and 1985's
Twitch
. Although this bypasses his 1991 album
Blood on the Bricks
-- which did have a minor
rock
radio hit in its title track -- this contains his three big hits (
"Fantasy,"
"Foolin' Yourself,"
and
"Monkey on Your Back"
), plus representative selections from the trio of albums he released at the peak of his popularity. His best material remains the songs from his debut -- they still pack a visceral punch and are slick, stylized, synthesized '80s
hard rock
at its best -- but there are some well-crafted
AOR
tunes to be found on his two other
albums, most of which are found on this well-done retrospective. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine