20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Kenny Rogers

Album Review

There certainly has been no shortage of Kenny Rogers compilations over the years — some might even say there's been a surplus — all covering essentially the same territory, mixing up his solo hits from the late '70s and early '80s with cuts from the late '60s when he fronted the First Edition. Hip-O's 2004 collection 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection uses that same approach, but it's better than nearly all of the collections currently on the market since it contains nearly all the big hits — "Lady," "She Believes in Me," "You Decorated My Life," "The Gambler," "Lucille," "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," "Ruben James," "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)" — on an affordable single disc. Yes, the 1991 track "Crazy in Love" may be an odd opener even if it was a number one adult contemporary hit, key duets like "Don't Fall in Love With a Dreamer" and "Islands in the Stream" aren't here, "Coward of the County" is missed, and some may complain about the reverse chronological order of the set, but compared to all CD-era Kenny compilations outside of the 1999 four-disc box set Through the Years, this shines in terms of song selection and listenability, and upon its release was the best available single-disc Kenny Rogers compilation.