As the fine series focused on hits of all kinds from the mid-'50s to the mid-'60s, the title of this offshoot might be confusing. How can you have a edition of a anthology series? It might be better to think of this as a compilation of 30 hits from 1956 to 1965 that crossed over, usually in a big way, to the charts: every one of the tracks made the Top Ten and the Top 100, sometimes getting into the Top Ten of the listings as well. As such, a lot of fans, and fans of just plain popular music, would be about as familiar with these as they were with smashes of the era. Not many anthologies focus on this notable subsection of and , and as expected does a fine job in mixing big and small hits by superstars, one-shots, and stars who only occasionally crossed over in a big way. Several undisputed classics are here: 's ' for instance. The more experienced collector might get more of a turn-on from the numerous additional items that have never really become staples of oldies radio, like If there's any slight drawback to this compilation, it's that though some of the songs were inarguably quite successful, there are some not-so-hot , saga songs, and hits a la that were indicative of Nashville's drift toward stultifying mainstream coated with frosting. But there's more good than bad here, and the 24-page liner notes are excellent, filling in a lot of career details for those who might not be specialists. ~ Richie Unterberger