You Could Make a Killing - Aimee Mann, Mann, Aimee
You're with Stupid Now - Aimee Mann, Mann, Aimee
Wise Up - Aimee Mann, Mann, Aimee
Driving with One Hand on the Wheel - Aimee Mann, Mann, Aimee
Long Shot - Aimee Mann, Mann, Aimee
Choice in the Matter - Aimee Mann, Brion, Jon
Voices Carry [Single Mix] - Aimee Mann, Hausman, Michael
Take It Back - Aimee Mann, Brion, Jon
Say Anything - Aimee Mann, Brion, Jon
Jacob Marley's Chain - Aimee Mann, Mann, Aimee
Amateur - Aimee Mann, Brion, Jon
All over Now - Aimee Mann, Mann, Aimee
Baby Blue - Aimee Mann, Ham, Pete
Everything's Different Now - Aimee Mann, Shear, Jules
Sign of Love - Aimee Mann, Condos, Jennifer
The Other End (Of the Telescope) [Live] - Aimee Mann, Costello, Elvis
Jimmy Hoffa Jokes - Aimee Mann, Mann, Aimee
Stupid Thing - Aimee Mann, Brion, Jon
I Should've Known - Aimee Mann, Mann, Aimee
More ironic footnote than ultimate collection, this anthology is a bittersweet reprise of Aimee Mann's troubled major-label career. Take a few 'Til Tuesday tracks (including their 1980s hit, "Voices Carry"), most of her I'... more »m With Stupid album, some tracks from Whatever, and a whole bunch of B-sides, and you've got--what? Let's call it the penultimate collection, since the songs from Mann's breakthrough Magnolia soundtrack and Bachelor No. 2 album will have to wait for a subsequent, and perhaps more essential, compilation (one not likely to be issued by the parent company that dumped Mann and made her buy her album back). This collection does boast a lovely cover of Badfinger's "Baby Blue," while Mann originals like "That's Just What You Are," "Amateur," and "Long Shot" (all from I'm With Stupid) still sound great. But without "Save Me" or Mann's other more recent triumphs (or, come to think of it, anything from her first band's Bark Along with the Young Snakes), Utimate Collection doesn't begin to tell the story of this talented pop survivor. --Bill Forman« less
More ironic footnote than ultimate collection, this anthology is a bittersweet reprise of Aimee Mann's troubled major-label career. Take a few 'Til Tuesday tracks (including their 1980s hit, "Voices Carry"), most of her I'm With Stupid album, some tracks from Whatever, and a whole bunch of B-sides, and you've got--what? Let's call it the penultimate collection, since the songs from Mann's breakthrough Magnolia soundtrack and Bachelor No. 2 album will have to wait for a subsequent, and perhaps more essential, compilation (one not likely to be issued by the parent company that dumped Mann and made her buy her album back). This collection does boast a lovely cover of Badfinger's "Baby Blue," while Mann originals like "That's Just What You Are," "Amateur," and "Long Shot" (all from I'm With Stupid) still sound great. But without "Save Me" or Mann's other more recent triumphs (or, come to think of it, anything from her first band's Bark Along with the Young Snakes), Utimate Collection doesn't begin to tell the story of this talented pop survivor. --Bill Forman
Melissa S. (themissiah) from RINGGOLD, GA Reviewed on 2/19/2007...
Great album by Miss Mann. Some older stuff, too.
CD Reviews
A Word About The So-Called "Ultimate Collection" by Aimee
Foudental | Montreal, Canada | 01/06/2001
(1 out of 5 stars)
"There is a CD that was released recently titled "Aimee Mann--the Ultimate Collection". I want to give everyone a heads-up about this CD, because it was not only something that I had nothing to do with, it's a product I consider to be seriously substandard and misleading. My manager Michael Hausman and I heard that this project was in the works several months ago. In our opinion the label putting out the record, Hip-O Records, had no right to use the material they were intending to use in the first place. But I didn't want to be the bad guy and shut the project down entirely, so I asked Michael to get in touch with whoever was heading the project and offer our services, so that the record could be one I was proud of, even if it wasn't something I wanted out in the first place. I offered to do the artwork, as I had done for every record I've ever made except the first Til Tuesday record, and be involved in song selection. This offer was flatly refused--we were basically barred from being involved in any way on a project that had my NAME on it. As typical as this is in the music business, it still never ceases to amaze me. The most unbelievable thing they did was to take quotes from old interviews and weave them into liner notes for the package so that it would APPEAR that I had been involved--basically using my own reputation for integrity in my music to sell their own .... product.And the very title--"The Ultimate Collection"--implies at the very least a comprehensive collection, when it doesn't contain anything from Bachelor No. 2 and only one song from Magnolia (and not the Oscar-nominated song), and yet it DOES contain several things I personally consider to be absolute ...., including a rough mix of one song from just one of two reels of tracks, a song recorded live off the radio 10 years ago and never authorized by me to be recorded at all, much less released, a song I recorded for a movie as a favor to a producer friend that I didn't even write, etc. None of the great little B-sides or demos that I was actually proud of and thought would be perfect for this kind of collection.So I would ask everyone to please give this one a miss-- I hate to see fans being subjected to this kind of music industry bait-and-switch. Michael Hausman and I have been planning to put out our own collection that I promise will be a lot more "ultimate" than this wretched ...... Needless to say, there's also ....... in the works. To put out a record that deliberately gives the impression that it's been authorized by me is really the last straw."
A crime against everything that is good.
John J Poulos III | Tewksbury, MA USA | 11/14/2000
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Please, please, please don't buy this disc. Aimee Mann is one of the smartest, finest performers around today, and those who haven't felt the joy of an Aimee Mann album should rush right out and buy one--but this isn't it.Mann has been cheated and disrespected by the record industry at every turn (and there have been many turns) in her long career, and this collection is just another screwjob.These tracks were essentially stolen from Mann, put out without her permission, and--in an ultimate act of sleaze--presented as an authorized project. They even took Mann's words from old interviews and incorporated them into the liner notes--as if she were involved from the start.Mann herself considers this CD to be "substandard and misleading". She says that, while she is proud of some of the tracks contained herein, "it DOES contain several things I personally consider to be absolute crap, including a rough mix of one song from just one of two reels of tracks, [and] a song recorded live off the radio 10 years ago and never authorized by me to be recorded at all..."If you're new to Aimee Mann, buy "Whatever" or "I'm With Stupid" or the most recent album "Bachelor No. 2".If you know and love Mann's work, shame on you for even considering purchasing this slap-in-the-face."
A music fan from Philly
MF | Philadelphia, PA USA | 09/19/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Sonically, this is an outstanding disk.... and there are some great songs on it. But most people would be better served by purchasing other Aimee Mann CDs. Whether you know Aimee only through her work on Magnolia, or are a long time fan, you would do much better with her outstanding new album Bachelor #2. I love every song on that album and it is one of the best of the year, by any artist.If you already have Bachelor #2, I would recommend purchasing "I'm With Stupid" and "Whatever". There are too many great songs from those albums missing on this collection. These include some of my favorites, "Its Not Safe" from I'm With Stupid" and "Fourth of July" and "I've Had It" from Whatever.If you have all of Aimee's other work, then, and ONLY then, you might think about buying this collection for the B sides. That is my honest advice based on the merits of the music on this CD. However, it is worth noting that Michael Hausman IS Aimee Mann's manager. It is terribly unfair that Universal is trying to profit from Aimee's recent success and hard work after the way they treated her."
Unauthorized By Aimee herself
MF | 12/21/2000
(1 out of 5 stars)
"On her website, aimeemann.com, aimee herself is asking her fans to please NOT purchase this cd. It was not authorized by Aimee and she was refused when she offered to assist in the sequencing of the tracks, the mixes, and the artwork. Many of the tracks were never intended to be released in the form that they exist in on this collection. Aimee Mann has already begun a lawsuit against the company that released this. She will not make any money from the sale of this album. Luckily she has worked so hard against the corporate record companies that have made it so difficult for her fans to hear her music. If you want the real thing, buy "I'm With Stupid", "Bachelor #2" and the Magnolia soundtrack. The Ultimate Disrespect for Artists folks have also done a similar slap in the face to Maria McKee recently. These two singers should be revered for their contributions, not taken advantage of for the benefit of corporate slobs. Don't give in to this mediocre collection. Buy the music Aimee Mann intended her fans to have. Also - while you're at it - check out Aimee Mann's extraordinary producer's debut - Jon Brion's "Meaningless" album. It features a great Aimee Mann song on it!"
Boo! Hiss!
L. Seemann | Chicago, IL | 11/15/2000
(1 out of 5 stars)
"You CAN go wrong with this disc. In fact, you WILL. This compilation is a misappropriation of Mann's words, images and songs. It was not authorized by her and its purchase should not be encouraged."