If time is the true test, then Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits confirms that they really were one of the greatest rock & roll bands in the world. While, in retrospect, fellow graduates of the class of 1987 are about as cool as poodle perms and spandex, the L.A. bad boys still rock like gods. Listening to the sun-drenched chords of "Paradise City" and the ensuing stadium-sized swagger is enough to make wearing leather trousers and bandanas seem like a good idea. Of course, it helped that for them sex, drugs, and rock & roll was a way of life, not a fashion statement. As Axl Rose wails "I wanna watch you bleed" on "Welcome to the Jungle" like a chain-smoking lunatic possessed, it's hard not to believe he meant it. Yet equally, it was his surprisingly poetic nature that made genuinely touching love songs of "Patience" and "Sweet Child of Mine." Though none of their subsequent albums matched the drug-crazed genius of Appetite for Destruction, they did, as the Greatest Hits reminds, have their moments. From the bloated Use Your Illusion I & II came ultimate rock ballads "Don't Cry" and "November Rain," along with the primal rage that was "You Could Be Mine." And while the covers of the The Spaghetti Incident? were largely forgettable, the fact that their final single was a seedy sneer through the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" seems spectacularly fitting. --Dan Gennoe

Mamma mia! ABBA has never sounded or looked better than on the new CD+DVD package ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits (Special Edition) (Polydor/Polar/UMe), released December 7, 2010. Featuring all of the group's hits and more--and the videos for each of them--this Special Edition package brings together 1992's six times platinum ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits CD and its gold-certified homevideo companion of the same title, both newly remastered. The CD, which as a stand-alone album has sold more than 28 million copies worldwide, embraces 19 classics including the gold #1 anthem "Dancing Queen"; #3 gold "Take A Chance On Me"; Top 10s "Waterloo" and "The Winner Takes It All"; Top 20s "SOS," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Fernando," "Does Your Mother Know" and "The Name Of The Game," and Top 40s "Mamma Mia" and "Chiquitita." The DVD features all 19 video clips, taking full advantage of the progress in digital technology since they were last remastered. Notably, most of ABBA's videos were directed by Lasse Hallström, since acclaimed for such films as My Life As A Dog, What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Chocolat. Also included are bonus selections in the form of "before-and-after" split-screen comparisons of five original film clips and their remastered versions. In addition, the DVD adds a recently discovered cartoon version of "Money, Money, Money," circa 1977. This rarity was briefly screened at the time and has not been available in complete form since. Nearly 30 years later as one of the most commercially successful pop groups in history, the music of ABBA dances into the future with ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits (Special Edition).

When David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash created this pop super trio in 1968 after their splits from the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and The Hollies, respectively, it would have been a pipedream that a hits package released 37 years later would sound as eternal and essential as this one. The 19 songs straddle the four-album, landscape-altered timeframe between 1969’s post-Woodstock debut Crosby, Stills & Nash and 1982’s Daylight Again, which helped inaugurate the MTV era. Unbalanced sequencing--which randomly bounces 12 years ahead and five years back--is rescued by the superb harmonies, unique songwriting and divergent personalities of the three members. With politics and culture always at the forefront, Stills bookends the band’s trademark canon with "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and "Southern Cross," Nash incorporates Eastern influences to "Marrakesh Express" and folk timber to "Just a Song Before I Go" and "Teach Your Children," and the ever-capricious Crosby leads the way lyrically with the lingering "Delta" to the Robert Kennedy tribute "Long Time Gone." Sure, the collection is missing any songs by ("Ohio") or contributions from ("Woodstock") the fourth name on the marquee (Neil Young). Here’s hoping that’s for another Greatest Hits. --Scott Holter

Numbered Limited Edition 180-gram 2-LP Set! Rare is the voice, personality, and image that defines cool for more than 50 years. But Roy Orbison simply had it all - the tender tone, the laidback charisma, the mellifluous baritone, the cover-magazine looks, the gazing eyes hidden behind black Ray-Ban shades. And of course, the songs.Demand for Orbison's trademark vocal shiver and pussycat purr has never been greater. But with so many collections available, which one to get? Mobile Fidelity recognized that none of the available releases had the necessary mark of quality - namely, first-rate sound. So we changed that by providing a necessary sonic update to the best collection.Remastered from the original analog master tapes for the first time ever, here are all of Orbison's finest singles in one place, all claiming a clarity, richness, tonality, and presence that has never been before experienced outside of the studio.TRACKLISTING:A1 Only The Lonely (Knows The Way I Feel) 2:26 A2 Leah 2:37 A3 In Dreams 2:37 A4 Uptown 2:08 A5 It's Over 2:47 B1 Crying 2:43 B2 Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) 2:36 B3 Blue Angel 2:44 B4 Working For The Man 2:25 B5 Candy Man 2:42 C1 Running Scared 2:10 C2 Falling 2:22 C3 Love Hurts 2:26 C4 Shahdaroba 2:36 C5 I'm Hurting 2:43 D1 Mean Woman Blues 2:23 D2 Pretty Paper 2:52 D3 The Crowd 2:20 D4 Blue Bayou 2:29 D5 Oh Pretty Woman 2:55

Mamma mia! ABBA has never sounded or looked better than on the new CD+DVD package ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits (Special Edition) (Polydor/Polar/UMe), released December 7, 2010. Featuring all of the group's hits and more--and the videos for each of them--this Special Edition package brings together 1992's six times platinum ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits CD and its gold-certified homevideo companion of the same title, both newly remastered. The CD, which as a stand-alone album has sold more than 28 million copies worldwide, embraces 19 classics including the gold #1 anthem "Dancing Queen"; #3 gold "Take A Chance On Me"; Top 10s "Waterloo" and "The Winner Takes It All"; Top 20s "SOS," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Fernando," "Does Your Mother Know" and "The Name Of The Game," and Top 40s "Mamma Mia" and "Chiquitita." The DVD features all 19 video clips, taking full advantage of the progress in digital technology since they were last remastered. Notably, most of ABBA's videos were directed by Lasse Hallström, since acclaimed for such films as My Life As A Dog, What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Chocolat. Also included are bonus selections in the form of "before-and-after" split-screen comparisons of five original film clips and their remastered versions. In addition, the DVD adds a recently discovered cartoon version of "Money, Money, Money," circa 1977. This rarity was briefly screened at the time and has not been available in complete form since. Nearly 30 years later as one of the most commercially successful pop groups in history, the music of ABBA dances into the future with ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits (Special Edition).

One question would be: What took him so long? After all, a contemporary like Van Morrison has sold boatloads of his single-disc best-of set to buyers wary of diving into that deep catalog without a primer to get them started. So three and a half decades into his solo career, Neil Young finally delivers his version of that most modest of albums--the pre-holiday "hits" overview. What's surprising, coming from such a proud maverick, is its conventionality. Granted, the original master mixes are a boon for fans, but otherwise, there's not much here for loyalists who quite likely already possess the original "Like a Hurricane" on a couple of albums, as well as a handful of live interpretations scanning the years. Since Young cracked the Top 10 only once (1972's "Heart of Gold"), this set is built around concert staples as "Cinnamon Girl," "Rockin' in the Free World," and "Hey, Hey, My My" rather than chart favorites. Despite Young's honorable standing as a still-vital graybeard, the disc is skewed heavily toward his early work, shortchanging some mighty productive recent years. Peripheral fans may find this set of interest, but faithful followers are better advised to investigate the DVD version, which, at least, includes videos, photos, lyrics, and Web links. --Steven Stolder