Roy Orbison - The Ultimate Collection (2018) [SACD]

Sony/Legacy's 2016 single-disc The Ultimate Collection is the first career-spanning Roy Orbison compilation since their double-disc Essential from a decade earlier. At 40 tracks, Essential would seem to have an edge over The Ultimate Collection, but the 2016 compilation has a significant advantage in that it contains the original hit versions of "Running Scared" and "In Dreams," iconic hits present only as re-recordings on the double-disc set. This is a significant boost for Ultimate, yet the collection still has its flaws, chief among them a non-chronological sequencing -- it's disconcerting to hear the posthumous "I Drove All Night" follow "Oh, Pretty Woman" at the outset of the set -- and how it emphasizes Orbison's post-Traveling Wilburys recordings over his early Sun sessions, which are represented only by "Ooby Dooby." A few other notable hits are missing -- the seasonal standard "Pretty Paper," "Blue Angel," and "I'm Hurtin'," plus the cult favorite "Communication Breakdown" -- which may prevent this collection from truly being called "The Ultimate," but this nevertheless remains the best single-disc collection of Orbison's career ever assembled. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine