Ultimate Collection: Liza Minnelli

Album Review

Creating a single-disc Ultimate Collection for a superstar like Liza Minnelli is a daunting task because to call any single-disc collection on this artist "ultimate" is misleading at best. There are way too many omissions, and pleasing the die-hard fans of the singer/actress with a single-disc set is close to impossible. That said, this collection will most likely please the casual and the curious. However, the folks at Hip-O succeed in assembling material from different eras and labels associated with Liza's career (and certainly provide informative liner notes), including a youthful and sweet "Try to Remember," which opens the album, and the wonderful 1989 Pet Shop Boys-produced dance hit "Losing My Mind," the album closer. Highlights in between include the rare "Come Saturday Morning" and "Simon," available for the first time on CD. Check out her smoldering versions of "The Look of Love," "MacArthur Park/Didn't We," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "The Man I Love," the countrified signature hit "Maybe This Time," her electric, sassy rendition of "Love for Sale," and the amazing wallop of "The Singer." But why not a studio or film version of "Cabaret"? And the omissions — "Stepping Out," "A Quiet Thing," "A Matter of Time," nothing from Tropical Nights or Gently — all of this only illustrates that a two-disc set (at least) is needed to accurately represent Liza Minnelli's recording career. ~ Jose F. Promis, Rovi