Doesn't include every hit, but that's expected

There have been many Greatest Hit's collections issued by Kenny Rogers over the years. Prior to this one, however, not one truly captured every stage of his career from The First Edition through to the present. 42 Ultimate Hit's does just that.

I am a huge fan of Kenny Rogers, so have heard these songs many times. In fact, so many of us will be familiar with the likes of "Lucille", "The Gambler" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" that we may often take for granted just how good these songs truly are.

Rogers’s music was the first I had ever heard growing up. One of my earliest memories is from when I couldn't even walk... I remember crawling on the floor in my parent’s apartment when I was a baby boy in the early 80s. Kenny Rogers was at the peak of his career back then and his albums were always spinning on our record player. Hit's such as "Love Or Something Like It" or "She Believes In Me" made such an impression on me that years later, when I was in high school and college I was still listening to Rogers back catalogue along with the hottest country and rock hits of the day.

42 Ultimate Hits is a great summary of the songs that have ensured Kenny has built up a long run of successes. From the early days with the country-rock band, The First Edition (i.e. "Just Dropped In", "Reuben James", etc) through to his 1970's solo career explosion ("Lucille", "Daytime Friends", "Coward Of The Country") and beyond (from "Lady" in 1980 right the way through to "Buy Me A Rose" in 1999).

As this album is a (great) overview of Rogers’s career, this leaves no room for lesser known or classic album cuts. This is the only issue that I have with this set, although I can deal with it because on a greatest hits set the popular songs should be what is included.

That said, the fact that this album is packed back to back with well known hits is a testament that Rogers career is one of the most successful in music. How many other acts can truly fill a 2 cd set with such well known material?

If you only get one Kenny Rogers album, make it this. It certainly does not include all his great songs, not even all his charts hit's, but it does include his most popular chart entries of the past five decades.