Smokey Robinson: My World: The Definitive Collection

For hardcore fans of Smokey's voice only -- this CD captures all the top ten hits of Robinson, both with the Miracles and solo, but doesn't paint the full picture.

Smokey Robinson's career has spanned over four decades now, from the Miracles to his Seventies solo renaissance to his arguable invention of the "quiet storm" genre of smooth R&B in the Eighties. Collecting all of his important tracks would take significantly more than a single CD, therefore, and that's where "My World" can't help but disappoint just a bit -- it's great to have "Shop Around" and "Cruisin'" and "One Heartbeat" on one CD, yes, but not at the expense of "Tell Me Tomorrow," "The Agony and the Ecstasy," or "I Am I Am," much less Miracles-era classics like "My Girl Has Gone," "The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage," and "(Come 'Round Here) I'm The One You Need."

Still in all, this IS the only place to get all the big hits spanning the length of Smokey's career, and it might make for a great listen if you can take the time to reprogram these 21 tracks; as usual with comps like these, the new stuff comes first, and while the two new tracks, "My World" and "Fallin'," are solid enough (produced as they are by underappreciated Motown house producer William "Mickey" Stevenson, the inspiration for "Mickey's Monkey"), they're not quite up to the standard of Smokey's classics. It's also strange to hear "Just To See Her" right next to "The Tears of a Clown" or "Baby That's Backatcha" next to "I Second That Emotion." Still, if you're one of the multitude who worship at the shrine of that voice, such concerns may seem minimal. Even if a little shuffling is in order.