Released in 1970 during the stopgap between and , inadvertently arrived at precisely the right moment, summarizing 's joyous hit-making run on the charts. Technically, only four songs here reached the Top Ten, with only two others hitting the Top 40, but judging this solely on charts is misleading, since this is simply a peerless singles collection. This summarizes their first four albums perfectly (almost all of outside of the two jams and is here), adding the non-LP singles possibly the loveliest thing they ever recorded. But, this isn't merely a summary (and, if it was just that, , the early-'80s comp that covers would be stronger than this), it's one of the greatest party records of all time. Music is rarely as vivacious, vigorous, and vibrant as this, and captured on one album, the spirit, sound, and songs of are all the more stunning. Greatest hits don't come better than this -- in fact, music rarely does. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine