One of the great Motown groups, March 1, 2003

For a serious Temptations fan (exempli gratia, ego) this is a pretty lousy and insufficient compilation. The pattern of lineups in this group can best compared to Lynard Skynard-there are so many flamin' line ups that it gets to the point where it's not the same group anymore; it's just the Temptations by name only. David Ruffin, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, all of them gone. If you ask me, the real Temptations died the early 1970s. In place of indispensable gems of their golden years (id est, the REAL Temptations) such as "Slow Down Heart", "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep", "Just Let Me Know", etc. this "ultimate collection" includes mediocre, (relatively terrible) latter cuts such as "Error of Our Ways". If you endeavor the enchanted staggering, and soul-moving work buy their studio albums prior to 1976 like "Meet The Temptations" and "Temptations Sing Smokey"; the earlier the better. They are more rare, but they are worth the purchase. Also, almost any other Temptations hits...

This is not quite the ultimate Temptations collection, but it comes close. You could never fit all their great songs on one CD anyway, but the compilers were clearly determined to include some of their later recordings - the last three tracks on this CD. Angel doll, though recorded in 1967, was not one of their big hits - indeed, it was not even released at the time. The inclusion of these four tracks at the expense of real classics, including Beauty is only skin deep, devalues the title somewhat.

Stop trying to pull the wool over our eyes! In this day of slick marketing and advertising gimmicks you can pretty much call any product anything you want to and make just about any claim you care to. Unfortunately such is the case with "The Ultimate Collection". For any true Temptations fan will tell you that this disc is certainly not reflective of its title and simply does not cut the mustard. Issued in 1997, "Ultimate Collection" is merely another in a string of largely inadequate offerings that purport to be the definitive Temptations Greatest Hits."Ultimate Collection" is not a terrible disc. It does offer tunes from all of the many phases of the Temptations dynamic career. The remastering job is just fine and I would rate the 12 page booklet acceptable but nothing more. The problem here is that there are 8 or 9 pretty important titles missing including 1966's "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep", "(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need" and the highly...