"Ultimate Collection" is a mixed bag. While the sound is great and the selections terrific, it's an odd sort of collection. Fans will buy it for the complete "Mike's Murder" available for the first time on CD and self contained on disc three. Fans looking for a hits collection will find this to be a pretty good overview although it's missing a number of key tracks and the running time of each disc left plenty of room to add between 5 songs per disc.
The booklet isn't as exhaustive as it should be. Like the booklet for the reissued "Night and Day", it's designed for new fans. That's ok but the "Ultimate Collection" is aimed at two markets with its inclusion of "Mike's Murder". I would have liked to see complete lyrics as well as comments from Joe about each of the songs. It's clear he didn't have much to do with the compilation.
The beautifully remastered sound almost makes this worthwhile even if you have all of Joe's albums and singles on various CDs. The 32 bit remastered sound blows away just about any other version of the hits collections previously issued. Ultimately, this should have mirrored the two disc American set with "Mike's Murder" as a bonus disc.
No complaints really, I just wish that Joe had gotten the true "Ultimate Collection" he really deserved; a 4 disc boxed set with rarities, album tracks similar to XTC's wonderful "A Coat of Many Cupboards" (although I had some issues with that set as well but it's great for the most part).
This set appealed to me because it contains the hits from early in his career, a time that most would argue was his best. I differ--I actually prefer his latest albums. I bought this because I DON'T have those early albums and wanted the hits from that period. The main reason for buying this is that it contains the entire "Mike's Murder" soundtrack. Parts of it are available on the remastered 2-disc set of "Night and Day" that was also recently released, but forego that disc and buy this one. The sound quality is superb. I would have added more tunes from his excellent (in my opinion) Blaze of Glory CD, for there's only one tune from it here (and there were better tracks on it than "Nineteen Forever"). And I would have added tracks from "Night and Day II" (which I liked alot). OK, there's more that should have been added: a track or two from "Will Power" and a movement from his "Symphony" CD's. Both would have been great instrumental additions to the third CD which falls short of complete, clocking in at 38 minutes. (CD1 = 56 min., CD2 = 66 minutes). If you're a Joe Jackson fan, this is a definite buy.
