The Ultimate Collection by Joe Cocker may not have all of his best hits; but this is still a pretty good compilation nevertheless. The sound quality is excellent and I like the artwork. This CD is a must-have for Joe Cocker fans.

"With A Little Help From My Friends" is partially a cover a this famous tune by The Beatles; but when Joe Cocker performs his own rendition this number takes flight just about as good as when The Beatles performed it! The backup chorus bolsters Joe Cocker's performance and overall he delivers this ballad with a great deal of sensitivity. It makes a great beginning for this album. "Feelin' Alright" is a rockin' tune that has a catchy, almost irresistible melody to it; and Joe Cocker performs this without a single superfluous note! The percussion helps to mark the beat but there's an excellent arrangement for the piano--I love it!

"She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" is another cover of a Beatles tune; and Joe would make The Beatles proud with his sublime rendition! Joe sings this very well and the somewhat jazzy musical arrangement embellishes the number a great deal. Listen also for a live recording of "Cry Me A River;" this gets a jazzy, somewhat rock and roll treatment for this classic ballad made so famous by the great Julie London. In addition, "You Are So Beautiful" is clearly one of the greatest love songs ever written--Joe Cocker sings this with passion, heart and soul. It always amazes me to hear Joe sing "You Are So Beautiful."

"Up Where We Belong" is another duet made famous by both Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. The two artists complement each other rather well and this makes "Up Where We Belong" a solid number. There's also a "90s version" of "Unchain My Heart." "Unchain My Heart" really rocks and it sounds very good! The backup chorus enhances the natural beauty of this ballad. Awesome!

"Summer In The City" is a fine cover that gets a somewhat Caribbean treatment from Joe and his musician friends; the tempo slows down and the melody overall is very pretty. "Sail Away" is a tender number that touches me when I hear it; and the album also ends very strong with Joe Cocker performing "First We Take Manhattan." "First We Take Manhattan" rocks and only Joe Cocker could make this tune sound so good!

Joe Cocker possesses a great talent and we are all better off for his sharing his giftedness with us. This is a great Joe Cocker album for his fans; and it's also a great starter CD for people just discovering the fine artistry of Joe Cocker.

It appears the record company's intentions for this new CD was only to maximize profits; certainly very little was invested in assuring good sound. I wish I had not bought this CD. I already own several Joe Cocker CDs, and I bought this one hoping that, since it is a newer release, it would have better sound-quality than the ones I already own. Quite the contrary. Even though the older CDs are not great (sonically), the overall sound on this new CD is noticeably worse. This CD sounds harsh and brittle, sometimes making you want to leave the room while plugging your ears. If you already own Cocker's greatest-hits CD from circa 1987, keep it, for it has considerably better sound: on that CD the piano, percussion, and other instruments sound much more true to life than they do on this new CD.

I expect some reviewer will read this and respond that I am wrong, that the CD is perfectly clean and crisp and clear sounding. Yes, but "clean, crisp and clear" is not enough; recorded music should also present the music in its best form, with voices and instruments sounding natural and lifelike, with no harshness. Clarity alone is not sufficient. Somehow, the record company has stripped away the musical naturalness. This CD is not very pleasant to hear; and that's a shame, because Cocker's music is good.

Don't buy this CD. Send the message to the record company that we expect (and will wait for) a quality recording of Cocker's music. No more of this harsh, bad-sounding junk they keep reissuing...

From the first "Aaargh!" I became captivated with the soul singing of Joe Cocker. The two songs recorded live, "The Letter" and "Cry Me a River" is more than enough reason to purchase this CD. The constant beat in the background music is clear, sharp and a perfect match to Cocker's passion. A great buy.

A friend of mine just told me Joe Cocker released a new greatest hits, and I can't get over how good it is. It's titled "Ultimate Collection", and it is really Ultimate because it covers 30 years of his career, all of his hits from 1969-1999 are on this album. If you don't know who Joe Cocker is, let me briefly inform you; he is an awesome British rock singer that covers a majority of his songs, you will forget about the originals after listening to his soulful voice take over the songs. The collection starts off with the track, "With A Little Help From My Friends", an original Beatles song, but this one is of course cooler, cause its with non other then Jimmy Page!! Other tracks I totally dig are "Summer in the City", "You Can Leave Your Hat On" and a live version of "Cry me a River" (not the Justin Timberlake song, only the song title he ripped off!) There is this hunger within Cocker's voice that makes me rejoice and really feel the emotion behind his songs.

This album is a must have for fan of music. An album anyone can listen to and enjoy. With so many good songs and a ton of artists such as The Crusaders, Randy Newman, and Jennifer Warnes helping him out on some tracks.

I remember seeing Joe Cocker in 69" at the first Woodstock festival, to think it was 35 years ago, my wife bought me "Ultimate Collection" recently and I felt like a kid again. Cocker is one of those artists with a voice you don't ever forget, the voice stays with you throughout the years and you never forget his songs. I own a great deal of Cocker albums, and this by far the most enjoyable compilation album of his. Hailing from Sheffield, Joe has made a career by covering a vast majority of his songs. One of my favorites on the "Ultimate Collection" is a cover of the Lovin' Spoonfull's `summer in the City'; this song brings back great memories of playing baseball in the summer heat of the 60's. Another favorite of mine is the classic song `You can leave your hat on', a song both my wife and I have enjoyed dancing to over the years I fully recommend this album for any Joe Cocker fan, as young fans go, definitely check this album out, get a good sense of older rock and what its all about.