There are ten tracks that overlap between Gin Blossoms’ first hits collection, 1999′s 14-track Outside Looking In, and 2003′s 12-track 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection, which is good news in a way — it means that both collections contain all the group’s big hits, along with nearly all the key songs. In fact, the only single missing from 20th Century Masters is “Day Job,” a single that didn’t make much impact in 1996, toward the end of the group’s career. So, either collection is good for the listener who wants all the group’s hits on one disc, though in some ways 20th Century Masters gets the edge, since it is cheaper, lacks the collector-bait rarities that occasionally slowed momentum on Outside Looking In, and offers 12 tracks of this underrated guitar pop band at its best. It’s a shining example of how good a budget-line hits collection can be. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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