Michael McDonald - The Ultimate Collection (2005)

McDonald has one of the most distinctive baritone voices in pop/rock music, plus he's a fantastic keyboard player and songwriter. Around 1980, he was in high demand, appearing on records by the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Toto, Christopher Cross, and Kenny Loggins. As the CD title implies, this is an inclusive look back at his career. I guess you've pretty much called it quits when you title a CD as the ultimate collection. Still, this is a strong collection. For casual fans like me, this is the only McDonald disc you'll need. These days, it seems McDonald is content to cover Motown tunes (Ain't No Mountain High Enough leads off this disc). I can't blame him; I would, too.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #19 (Aug 27, 2005)

Tracks:

	Title	Year	Pop	AC
1	Ain't No Mountain High Enough	2004	111	5
2	What A Fool Believes	1979	1	22
3	I Keep Forgettin'	1982	4	8
4	Yah Mo B There	1983	19	10
5	Takin' It To The Streets	1976	13
6	Sweet Freedom	1986	7	4
7	Minute By Minute	1979	14	13
8	On My Own	1986	1	2
9	You Belong To Me	1977
10	Real Love	1980	5	10
11	I Stand For You	1993	114	21
12	It Keeps You Runnin'	1976	37
13	Take It To Heart	1990	98	4
14	No Love To Be Found	2000
15	I Gotta Try	1982	44	28
16	No Lookin' Back	1985	34	18
17	Blink Of An Eye	1993
18	Open The Door (Urban Remix)	2000
19	Lost In The Parade	1985		40

The nice thing about this CD is it offers all the hits with The Doobie Brothers (What A Fool Believes, Takin' It To The Streets, Minute by Minute, You Belong To Me, Real Love, and It Keeps You Runnin') plus his hit duets (Yah Mo B There with James Ingram and On My Own with Patti LaBelle) as well as his solo hits (I Keep Forgettin' and Sweet Freedom) and the vaguely familiar "almost" hits (Take It To Heart, I Gotta Try, No Lookin' Back). Then there's the "newer" adult contemporary stuff I've never heard before: 1993's reggae-flavored I Stand For You and the NOLA-flavored Blink Of An Eye; 2000's No Love To Be Found and Open The Door. These tracks aren't bad (in fact, Blink Of An Eye is great), it's just that I don't buy greatest hits CDs to discover new music.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: For what it's worth, I had the soundtrack to Running Scared (which contained Sweet Freedom and other Rod Temperton-written goodness) on cassette.