Paul Anka - His All Time Greatest Hits: 30th Anniversary Collection

The best single disc Paul Anka collection out there!!! Great job Rhino!!!

This is the greatest Paul Anka single disc collection out there,hands down!!! A great collection of his biggest hits(24 in all!),and that great Rhino remastering means a great sounding product!!! Nice booklet too!!! A well rounded package!!! Recommended!!! Two thumb up! A+ August 16, 2008

Original

I've order Paul Anka CD's previously and was disappointed to find out, after purchase, that some cuts were not original recordings. This one is all original and the songs bring me back to my high school days wnen folks danced close. Great Music! March 2, 2008

fine single CD retrospective

Paul Anka's songs have endured the test of time; his albums still sell because of his great ability to sing beautifully and to make songs into small stories that capture the heart. This 30th anniversary celebration CD really gives us a lot of Paul Anka's best.

There truly are a number of highlights on this album. I really like "Diana;" this ballad rocks in the early `60s style as Paul sings his heart out. Paul never sings a superfluous note and the musical arrangement has great special effects. "You Are My Destiny" keeps the spotlight on Paul's early work; and the backup vocalists harmonize to perfection. Love those strings on "You Are My Destiny," too!

Moreover, listen for "Put Your Head On My Shoulder." This very romantic, slow dance ballad features Paul crooning as only a real pro can; and the beat is great! The backup chorus again bolsters Paul's performance. "Puppy Love" appeals to anyone who ever had a puppy love that adults pooh-poohed as being silly because the boy and the girl were so young. "Puppy Love" is a very cute number that I always held dear.

"Love Me Warm And Tender" now shows us how well a more mature Paul Anka could still make a song sound so wonderful. The chorus on "Love Me Warm And Tender" is flawless and I like the musical arrangement. In addition, "(You're) Having My Baby" is another great hit for Paul that he scored in his more mature years; and he delivers this with great sensitivity and panache.

"One Man Woman/One Woman Man" gets the royal treatment from Paul; and the album ends fittingly with Paul singing "My Way" to perfection. The piano arrangement works very well while Paul sings "My Way" so sweetly.

The liner notes include an essay by Ellis Widner; and the artwork is nicely done.

Overall, this single CD represents quite a celebration of Paul Anka and his music. He almost always wrote his own songs which makes his contributions to the arts even more special. I highly recommend this CD, especially for people who enjoy classic pop vocals.
January 2, 2008

Anka's timeless music

I was looking for a special song to dance to with my son at his wedding. We went through all the traditional songs, but Paul Anka's "Times of Your Life" really hit home. I ordered the CD so we could give the music to the DJ. The dance was beautiful (and I didn't get too teary-eyed). Now, I'm enjoying the rest of the CD, as I've enjoyed Paul's music most of my life (sorry, Paul). November 2, 2007

Very Nice, But Puts A Mere Dent In His Library Of Hit Singles

Growing up in the Ottawa area in the 1950s, one of my favourite haunts was Andy Anka's club across the river in Angers, Quebec and, from time to time, we'd see Paul there. We also played a bit of hockey against him during his Fisher Park high school days [he was a goaltender], and saw some of his earliest performances with a group called The Bobby Soxers at the Central Canada Exhibition around 1955/56.

His talent even then was apparent, and so it was no surprise when his very first record, I Confess b/w the oddly-titled Blau-Wildeveest Fontaine [a South African location in the novel Prestor John] received considerable airplay in the area. Released by Modern Records in 1956 it wasn't a national hit, but that and his renowned determination did serve to bring him to the attention of Don Costa and ABC-Paramount Records.

The first effort there was Diana, about his babysitter in Ottawa, and the rest, as they, was history. Diana herself capitalized on her new-found fame by opening the Diana Grill after the record shot to # 1 on both the Billboard Pop Top 100 and R&B charts in the summer of 1957.

His follow-up disc, I Love You, Baby. did not fare even remotely as well, reaching just # 97 that December. But then came You Are My Destiny [# 7 Top 100/# 14 R&B early in 1958] and, in short order, the double-sided hit Crazy Love [# 15] and its flip Let The Bells Keep Ringing [# 16] in June 1958.

From there to 1983 he would chalk up another 48 Pop Hot 100 singles, four of which would also cross over to the R&B charts [tracks 7, 8, 9, and 12], and from 1969 to 1984 some 20 would make the Adult Contemporary charts. He would do all that for seven different labels - ABC-Paramount, RCA Victor, Buddah, Fame, Epic, United Artists, and Columbia.

So, it's obvious that this otherwise fine AAD effort from Rhino barely puts a dent in his long list of hit singles. But it's a good start and hopefully will lead to other volumes. There are five pages of liner notes written by Ellis Widner, entertainment editor of The Tulsa Tribune and co-author of The Oak Ridge Boys: Our Story. On the reverse of the CD is a discography of the contents.

The only non-Anka hit in the package is My Way [more closely associated with Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley]. As another reviewer points out, this was not Anka's composition alone, having been written earlier by the French team of Thibault, Revaux, and Francois, although Paul did compose the English words.

Well worth having for all fans of Paul Anka. August 20, 2007

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