I 'll make this a brief review.This anthology is outstanding.There are only four artists that I consider to be the epitome of songwriters;Oscar Brown Jr.,Jon Hendricks,Curtis Mayfield,and last,but in no way least,William "Smokie" Robinson.I just regret that this superb collection didn't include two songs;Here I Go Again, and Fork In The Road. Other than that, this collection represents some of the finest work Smokie and the Miracles have done. A must for any Miracles fan!

If you are looking for the best and most complete anthology of the poet laurette of the baby boom generation (and one whale of a vocalist on top of that!) Smokey Robinson, along with the terribly underrated Miracles - this is the one to get. The sound is crisp and fresh as though recorded yesterday, and along with being historic and legendary this 2 cd set is an absolute joy to listen to. I often play Disk 1 one night and Disk 2 the next. Highly recommended!

the inclusion of "would i love you" on this cd is great as it was never available on an LP, except for the "In the beginning" anthology from the late 60's. the inclusion of this song was great, but whoever was doing the picking, picked the wrong one. this is not the original "would i love you", but is an alternate take. the original is much better. too bad they did not include that. the remainder of the cd is great.

I dont care what others say about The Supremes,Temptations, or other Motown groups,the MIRACLES were the greatest group to ever come out of Motown.PERIOD!! Why ? for one thing,they were the FIRST MOTOWN GROUP.It was their success that paved the way for all the others. Had they not been successful, there would have been NO MOTOWN,and none of those other groups would have even found fame ,or at least not to the extent which they did.They also had Motown's first million-selling record "Shop Around".THE MIRACLES put MOTOWN on the map. During the company's critical early years- 1959-1964- they were BY FAR Motowns TOP GROUP,(despite what certain reviewers have written},with top 10 pop hits in '1961,'62,AND' 63, the STAR ATTRACTION of the legendary MOTORTOWN REVUES,and the ONLY group that was bringing any serious money into the company!! By 1964, the year that the SUPREMES, TEMPTATIONS, AND THE FOUR TOPS had their 1st hits, THE MIRACLES had already released their 1ST DOUBLE ALBUM of GREATEST HITS !! Yet, while all these other Motown groups have been inducted ,AS GROUPS, into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME, The MIRACLES have been ignored.They chose to induct only Smokey.What a shame and insult to MOTOWN'S legendary First Group. The TEMPTATIONS ? great singers and dancers to be sure,but what most Temptations fans WON'T tell you is that 9 of their first 12 hits were actually written by The MIRACLES !! not just Smokey,THE WHOLE GROUP !! Don't believe it ? just look at the writing credits on the Tempts GREATEST HITS album !(How many MIRACLES songs did the TEMPTATIONS WRITE ? think about it}. THE SUPREMES ? They wouldn't have even GOTTEN on Motown if not for Smokey !!Stevie Wonder? He was discovered by Miracles member RONNIE WHITE !! THE MARVELETTES,MARVIN GAYE & MARY WELLS ?Yep, they wrote their stuff too.The MIRACLES were responsible,either directly or indirectly, for the success of just about EVERY EARLY ARTIST ON THE MOTOWN LABEL!! In fact ,of the five leading Motown groups ( Supremes, Temptations,4 tops,Miracles,J-5 }The MIRACLES were the ONLY ones that wrote their own material. Hopefully one day ,the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME will induct them ALL-SMOKEY, BOBBY,RONNIE, PETE, MARV & CLAUDETTE ,not just SMOKEY , as they did.Want to know why they deserve it? Just listen to this CD.Then, read the writing credits.It will prove that SMOKEY wasn't the ONLY serious talent in this group.

This generous 52-track compilation is a pretty definitive overview of the Miracles recording career in terms of singles releases, as all the A-sides are here (with the exception of a couple of early pre-Tamla, non-Top 100 sides), as well as 11 B-sides, one of which, Would I Love You? from 1964, seems not to have been on any original album. Their early Chess single (as the Matadors), Got A Job, an answer record to the Silhouettes' Get A Job, was produced by Berry Gordy and its local success led to the eventual formation of the famous Motown label, so its inclusion here (unfortunately in mono) is highly warranted. Three of the singles are in the slightly-longer LP versions - no bad thing at all, but the inclusion of the 1963 live version of I've Been Good To You in preference to the version from I'll Try Something New that was the B-side of What's So Good About Goodbye is perhaps more questionable.
Although the first 8 tracks are in mono, the rest are in stereo and it is a delight to discover that tracks 9-24 on disc 1 appear in previously unreleased stereo mixes. To hear old classic favourites like You've Really Got A Hold On Me and Mickey's Monkey in stereophonic glory for he first time is like discovering them afresh. The separation of guitars, horns and voices adds so much to the sound picture. 
The first disc, which is over 80 minutes long, is especially strong and causes one to want to dig out the original albums. The overall descent into schmaltz and blandness on the second disc is offset by some key returns to form, notably on Abraham Martin And John, The Tears Of A Clown (US Single Remix) and I Don't Blame You At All. Sadly, by the time of We've Come Too Far To End It Now, Smokey Robinson had come too far not to end it then