There are already so many "best-of" collections of Gerry & the Pacemakers – including previous releases from EMI, Capitol, and Collectables – that this double-CD set from EMI's U.K. division probably won't seem very impressive or important. Actually, very little of the band's history is left out, at least in terms of the various facets of their music – the hits are all present, along with a brace of engaging B-sides and LP and EP tracks that greatly broaden the range of music at hand. The quartet's best-known songs are well-crafted pop/rock in a Merseybeat mode, but they had a harder side as well, and even traded in some R&B and country sounds, and those aspects are represented here in between the hits. Some listeners who like their more rocking sides, such as "Jambalaya," "Maybellene" or "Pretend," may not appreciate the presence of such string-laden pop as "Walk Hand in Hand" or "Girl on a Swing," but this is a valid representation of their sound. And the sound is optimal, to put it mildly, with lots of presence on all of the instruments.

This is the excellent soundtrack album to the 1988 movie "Buster" starring Phil Collins in his feature film debut as a famed British thief. Phil also contributed to the film's soundtrack album, and the "Buster" soundtrack does have a lot of great tunes on it, not only the two big #1 hit songs from Phil, "Two Hearts" and "A Groovy Kind Of Love," but also some classic 60's tunes from the likes of Sonny & Cher, The Spencer Davis Group, Dusty Springfield, and Gerry & The Pacemakers. Phil also contributes another pair of great songs, one sung by The Four Tops ("Loco In Acapulco"), and the up-tempo, rhythmic fun of "Big Noise," while Anne Dudley composes the fine orchestral music, which is sprinkled throughout the soundtrack album (including "The Robbery," featuring Phil on drums).

2014 original album series 5 CD set, in LP replica papersleeves. Collects five classic UK Mersey beat albums: Gerry & the Pacemakers' "How Do You Like It?" (1963) & "Ferry Cross the Mersey" (1965), plus the Swinging Blue Jeans' "Blue Jeans A'Swinging" (1964), Billy J Kramer with the Dakotas' "Listen…" and the Fourmost "The First & the Fourmost (1965)…