Dad's Take:The Four Tops managed to stay together without a single personnel change from 1953 until 1997, when Lawrence Payton died of cancer. To get their signature sound, songs were written just a bit high for lead singer Levi Stubbs, a baritone. As a result, he often sounded like he was reaching for an emotional high note.
It's hard to review a greatest hits album. What do you say? "This album contains all their greatest hits," at least those recorded through 1967. "Reach Out I'll Be There," "I Can't Help Myself," "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Shake Me Wake Me (When It's Over)," It's The Same Old Song"--all there, as well as several others you might not know by title, but you'll know it when you hear it.
This is a rock-solid record, a great listen all the way through. But what else would you expect from a greatest hits album by one of the great soul vocal groups?
Brad's Take:
Every song that I already knew by The Four Tops I had no idea was actually The Four Tops. I've heard of their group's name, but never really associated any songs with it until now. Not really sure why I slept on that because I should have gotten their entire discography a long time ago.
I love this kind of music. It just feels so happy and fun, despite what the lyrics talk about sometimes. This music just puts me in a good mood.
"I Can't Help Myself" and "Reach Out I'll Be There" are a couple of the songs on this collection that are immediately familiar to me. But there's some tracks on here that I haven't heard before that I love now, like "Seven Rooms of Gloom," "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever," and "You Keep Running Away," just to name a few.
After listening to this, I decided that I'm definitely going to have to dive into more of The Four Tops' discography. This is a great collection that really showcases their greatness. I really hope other songs off of their full albums are as good as their hits are. This is one of my favorite albums we've gotten to listen to, I think. So much fun!
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