Number Ones

The problem with the recent spate of “number one” collections from the pop elite — the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and now the Bee Gees — is that they’re consistently marketed as “greatest-hits” collections. The conceptual weight of “number one” singles for the average listener is about as heavy as the slabs of wax they came out on, and compiling an entire record around them only shines the spotlight on the tracks that suffered the cut. In the Bee Gees case, it’s the omission of classics like “Nights on Broadway,” “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” “If I Can’t Have You,” and “More Than a Woman” — the latter does appear on the European versions — that causes Number Ones to pale in comparison to 2001′s highly superior Their Greatest Hits: The Record. [A limited U.S. edition that features an accompanying live DVD is also available, as well as a European version that omits "Lonely Days" in lieu of "More Than a Woman" and includes "Islands in the Stream" and "Immortality" as bonus tracks.] – James Christopher Monger