Heat Wave (Your Love Is A) - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
My Guy - Mary Wells
Ain't Nothing Lke The Real Thing - Marvin Gaye
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) - Four Tops
Baby I'm For Real - The Originals
What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted - Jimmy Ruffin
Keep On Truckin' - Eddie Kendricks
ABC - Jackson 5
Stop! In The Name Of Love - Diana Ross & The Supremes
My Cherie Amour - Stevie Wonder
Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) - Gladys Knight & The Pips
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) - The Temptations
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
Someday We'll Be Together - Diana Ross & The Supremes
Papa Was A Rollin' Stone - The Temptations
I'll Be There - Jackson 5
Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson
When You Tell Me You Love Me - Diana Ross
Dancing In The Street - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Track Listings (19) - Disc #2
Superfreak - Rick James
Let It Whip - Dazz Band
Rub You The Right Way - Johnny Gill
Let's Get Serious - Jermaine Jackson
Fire & Desire - Rick James
Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell
My Girl - The Temptations
War - Edwin Starr
I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross
All Night Long (All Night) - Lionel Richie
All This Love - DeBarge
Three Times A Lady - The Commodores
I Love Your Smile - Shanice
I'll Make Love To You - Boyz II Men
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
Him Or Me - Today
Don't Look Any Further - Dennis Edwards
I Want You Back '98 - I Want You Back '98
Despite the confident title of this 40th-anniversary collection, several of its selections were beginning to age badly even at the time of its 1998 release. Sure, comparing the hits of Rockwell, Shanice, and Today--not... more » to mention a Puff Daddy remix of the Jackson 5's eternal "I Want You Back"--to chestnuts from Motown's golden era may be unfair, but the company's late-'90s keepers promote that less-than-flattering test by including the former here. At the same time, most of the true classics heard on Forever have been endlessly anthologized and played on oldies radio. Those who own absolutely none of the great music Motown unleashed from the '60s to the early '80s might find this double-CD overview instructive. Most everyone else will find their ears drawn to more listenable CDs. --Rickey Wright« less
Despite the confident title of this 40th-anniversary collection, several of its selections were beginning to age badly even at the time of its 1998 release. Sure, comparing the hits of Rockwell, Shanice, and Today--not to mention a Puff Daddy remix of the Jackson 5's eternal "I Want You Back"--to chestnuts from Motown's golden era may be unfair, but the company's late-'90s keepers promote that less-than-flattering test by including the former here. At the same time, most of the true classics heard on Forever have been endlessly anthologized and played on oldies radio. Those who own absolutely none of the great music Motown unleashed from the '60s to the early '80s might find this double-CD overview instructive. Most everyone else will find their ears drawn to more listenable CDs. --Rickey Wright
Debra M. from MELBOURNE, FL Reviewed on 6/4/2007...
2 Discs .....NO...paperwork or Case
0 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
CD Reviews
A good overview that concentrates too much on the label's la
05/20/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)
"If you're looking for a general overview of Motown's glory days, you are better off with the 1994 boxed set Hitsville U.S.A. than you are with this. Sure it costs more but it's almost all wheat and no chaff.It's not that the material on this set is bad. You can't go wrong with "What Becomes of the Brokenheated", "War", "My Girl" and on and on. But the collection focuses too much on the label's post 1971 stuff; almost half the collection. There's nothing wrong with "SuperFreak" or the vastly underrated "Somebody's Watching Me" but the vision of Motown is communicated better by the 60's tracks. An act like Boys II Men, recorded after Berry Gordy sold the label, has really nothing to do with the original Motown artists except the actual label on the record. The modern songs can be easily obtained on a variety of compilations, so they don't make this an essential buy. So, save up and buy the boxed set and give the 60's Motown the in depth attention it deserves."
Motown Trail From Music Leader To Follower on "Forever"
Anthony G Pizza | FL | 07/30/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
""The Motown Sound" evolved from a product to a corporate symbol to representing a history and lifestyle, as much so in its own way as the Playboy bunny or Disney's Mickey Mouse. Motown Records celebrated its 40th birthday much as did the baby-boomer generation that built and reveres it; with half-shares dignity and defiance, welcoming the reverence of accomplishment while denying the effects of age."Motown 40 Forever" charts the label transition from trailblazer to follower. The music, even to the most devoted fan, becomes more faceless as you listen. "It's what's in the groves that count" was a Motown slogan, never more obvious than moving from the historic Four Tops, Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Supremes and Stevie Wonder hits to producer-driven one-shots on Disc Two. The album has its misfires. Diana Ross' "When You Say That You Love Me" is a bombastic, worthless ballad; rapper/producer/icon Puff Daddy (praised as a cultural successor to Berry Gordy in the liner notes) mixes the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back" into an awkward rap/jazz/whatever medley. Nonetheless, the essential music on "Motown 40 Forever" is the 60s-into-70s singles that are its legacy. Those that are here are essential, but are found in better company on other collections."
Their Greatest Songs But Still Not Enough
Anthony G Pizza | 07/24/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Hitsville USA is a far better compilation than this"
Only CD to find Rockwell on.
Anthony G Pizza | 02/05/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Besides all the great "popular" songs on this CD,you can find the 80'S hit "Somebody's Watching Me" - by Rockwell, an artist who sounds much like Michael Jackson. It also has the Puffy remix of The Jackson Five."
Neat intro!
Anthony G Pizza | 05/17/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm not very familiar with the Motown sound, but listening to this CD really made me a fan! I loved "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" and cuts by Diana Ross, Barry White, Marvin Gaye and the Supremes. A must get if you want to know about the role of soul! (in music)."