Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

As the title suggests, the latest release from Sir Cliff is largely a compilation of some of Cliff's best known love songs. But then to ensure that his faithful fans grab a copy, there are five new recordings added to the set. Of the stuff you've heard before, there are the obvious choices like "Miss You Nights", "The Twelfth Of Never", "Some People" and "It's All In The Game". Mix that up with new songs like covers of Foreigner's "Waiting For A Girl Like You", Daniel Bedingfield's "If You're Not The One" and Leo Sayer's "When I Need You", you're left wondering what the heck has happened to Cliff! The wide spread of old songs means that the album has no coherent sound production-wise. And when it came to new material, when did Cliff ever stick to covering other people's hits? He was always a genius for picking out the cream of songs from the best songwriters and consequently this album is a huge disappointment. Sure the faithful fans will want this but I want Cliff the artist to return to us. Instead of covering Daniel Bedingfield, get him to pen you three brilliant new songs, after all you have a track record of knowing how to pick winners. And instead of feeding us a collection of old love songs, at least re-record them for the noughties. His last album 'Something's Going On' proved that he was still able to create great new releases but this feels like a compromise and a disappointing one at that! Let's hope that right now he's secretly planning new recording sessions and hunting out a few songwriters who can get new fresh material that is strong enough for an artist of his calibre. I'm still waiting for him to hit number one in the noughties but he ain't going to do it with unimaginative covers.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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