Donny Osmond - 20th Century Masters: The Best of Donny Osmond (2002)

Donny Osmond's 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection gathers a dozen of the best singles and album tracks he recorded during his teenage solo career. Cleverly, the collection is arranged in chronological order, so one can hear the sweet, preteen voice on early hits such as "Sweet and Innocent" and "Go Away, Little Girl" deepen and threaten to crack on later singles like "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and "Young Love." Osmond's playful, bittersweet renditions of bubblegum standards such as "Puppy Love," "Too Young," and "Hey Girl" feature the orchestral, rather syrupy arrangements of early-'70s AM pop, but that just adds to the nostalgic charm of this collection. In all, the innocent studio confections on this album reaffirm why Osmond was one of the most popular bubblegum acts of the day; though 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection isn't the most complete Osmond retrospective available, it does a good job of capturing this period of his career.