For my convenience, I haven't listened to these yet. Got them from BMG Music Service yesterday, which was running a good sale (one full price, the rest 99 cents for a single-disk, $1.99 for a double, plus $2.59/disk for postage and "handling"). Guess the artists don't get much in royalties. I'm reviewing them primarily on packaging and content, since they're mostly greatest hits sets.

John Coltrane, My Favorite Things, 1961/1998 -- Got this on vinyl when I was in college. I was hoping it was the same packaging I'd gotten with two other Rhino disks, without a jewel box but with a vinyl-like sleeve and a ton of liner notes. It's not, but it's close enough that I can live with it. The "extras" are the single version of the title track (they released it as a single?), parts 1 and 2, which may actually mean a different recording -- I'm not sure they bothered splicing it, and it would have been hard to do a remix in 1961. Remember, that was four years before The Sound of Music was a movie, so it wasn't the standard it is today.

Roger Daltrey, Gold, 2006 -- A misnomer, since I don't think anything he ever did solo got certified by the RIAA. It was actually released a few years back by Sanctuary under the title Moonlighting (much more accurate, although you're half expecting Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis to show up); this is the same thing but with a few deletions: his versions of "Mack the Knife" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." ("Born to Run" remains, as well as a pile of solo live versions of Who songs.)

Genesis, Duke, 1980/2007 -- I hate buying the same album over again on CD if they throw in a few extras, but I've never gotten Duke in any format. This tosses in the full album on DVD, along with three videos ("Duchess," "Misunderstanding," and "Turn It On Again"), some interviews from last year, and seven songs from a concert at the Lyceum in London from 1980. That's probably worth it.

The Jackson 5, Number 1s, 2004/2007 -- Sometimes you want to take the person who designs album covers and whack 'em around a bit. This may be an Ecopak -- renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable -- but it also has no booklet talking about the music. The cover is printed in three colors -- pink, yellow mustard, and black -- and the liner notes on the inside cover drop out white from the yellow background in two-point type, making them virtually illegable. This is a rerelease of The Jacksons' Story, which I wish I'd gotten instead so I could read the damn thing. Anyway, it does have a good mix of their careers, both group and solo, although a good chunk of these songs ("Blame It on the Boogie," "Show You the Way to Go") were top 10, not #1s.

Supertramp, Retrospectacle, 2005 -- Interesting group that achieved staggering success in 1979 when Breakfast in America hit #1 (mostly because album buyers bought rock, not disco singles). Leans a little too much on the second disk post-Roger Hodgson (he was the one who sang tenor, Rick Davies was the other lead singer).

Diana Ross & The Supremes & The Temptations, Joined Together: The Complete Studio Duets, 2004 -- Well, that's kind of a stretch, because there's not a single picture of Diana Ross recording with the others, which makes me think Berry Gordy told her she could record her parts herself. This also doesn't include TCB and G.I.T. on Broadway, which are both soundtracks from two television specials around that time. Odd that the Tempts would be recording stuff like "The Impossible Dream" around the same time as "Runaway Child, Running Wild," but that's the way it goes. Inexplicably includes a photo of Flo Ballard, who had been tossed out of the Supremes long before. Also includes a pile of bonus tracks and alternate mixes.

The Temptations, Psychedlic Soul, 2007 -- I may have gone overboard on the Tempts here, especially considering about half these songs or more are on their box set, Emperors of Soul. This focuses on all the "psychedelic," funky songs they did with Norman Whitfield in the producer's chair from 1968 to 1973 (so you'll hear "Cloud Nine" and their version of "War," which they were too chicken to release as a single, but not "Just My Imagination" or "Love Woke Me Up This Morning"). It does have the long versions of some songs and a couple of alternate mixes, although I'm not sure I need 12 minutes of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" (not to mention nearly 14 minutes of "Masterpiece").

Joe Walsh, Greatest Hits/Little Did He Know..., 1997/2006 -- In keeping with the somewhat schizophrenic way Walsh's records were, this is called Greatest Hits on the MCA label on the jewel box, and The Definitive Collection on the Geffen label on the disk itself. (I think it was probably a rerelease that was goofed up by BMG, which manufactures the disks themeselves.) One disk of Walsh is definitely better than two, unless you want to spend the 32-dollar list price to get such extra classics as "I.L.B.Ts." (which stands for I Love Big, uh, tracts of land). No Eagles stuff, but at least they managed to get all the music he recorded for a few different labels in one place.