A condensed version of the 2005
Rick James
Gold
collection,
The Definitive Collection
trims the fat found on
and leaves a nice balance between his most well-known hits and some of his most acclaimed production work with other artists.
Definitive
wastes no time getting into the goods either, starting with the one-two punch of
"You and I"
and his ode to herbal
jazz
cigarettes,
"Mary Jane."
The goods are chronologically arranged, and it's not until the middle of the disc that
James
' most well-known anthems --
"Super Freak, Pt. 1"
and
"Give It to Me Baby"
-- are found. But it's not only his recordings that make
so accessible for casual fans; his production work with
Teena Marie
,
Smokey Robinson
, and
the Temptations
(all included here) will sound instantly recognizable to anyone who listened to
R&B
radio during the '80s. Lacking any sort of deep cuts, collectors and die-hard fans will most likely already own everything here. But casual fans looking for all the hits would be well served in using this as a starting point to explore further, as
has all the hits and then some. ~ Rob Theakston