Christopher Cross
had a long career, but he peaked early. His eponymous first album produced four Top 20 hits, highlighted by
"Sailing,"
and won five Grammys -- a record at the time. His streak continued with
"Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do),"
a collaboration with
Burt Bacharach
,
Peter Allen
, and
Carole Bayer Sager
that served as the theme for
Dudley Moore
's smash
Arthur
.
Cross
delivered a second album,
Another Page
, that sounded similar to the first and sold respectably well until it generated a genuine hit with
"Think of Laura,"
thanks to
General Hospital
adopting it as a love theme for their
Luke and Laura
plot line. After that,
slipped away, although he released another five albums between that record and 2002's compilation,
The Very Best of Christopher Cross
. The problem with this compilation is that it doesn't take into consideration that early peak -- it treats each album with equal respect, with as many songs taken from 1998's
Walking in Avalon
and
Red Room
as from 1983's
. While this may satisfy the artist and the die-hards who have listened with dedication over the years, those who loved the warm
soft rock
of the albums -- either as a guilty pleasure or without shame -- will find this collection profoundly disappointing, since after the eighth track, the collection takes a sharp turn toward fussy, sterile
adult contemporary
production, and it's never as pleasing to the ear as those first eight songs. This is a problem, because the collection succeeds in one respect (providing a comprehensive history) while failing in another (being an enjoyable listen). Though some will undoubtedly like this approach to
' career, most will wish that the compilers took
' early peak into account, since this collection would have been much more enjoyable. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine