The Best of the Pointer Sisters [RCA 2000] (CD - 2002)

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Personnel: June Pointer, Anita Pointer, Ruth Pointer (vocals).

Audio Remasterer: Bill Lacey.

Audio Remixers: James C. Tract; James Guthrie; Bill Schnee; Michael Brooks .

Liner Note Author: Mike Beeferman.

When sifting through compilations for a particular artist, your decision on which one to obtain can often be left up to presentation; by that standard, this set from Paradiso is one that should never win, especially when there are so many other Pointer Sisters compilations available at any given time. This does have most of the tracks you'd expect -- "Neutron Dance," "Fire," "Jump (For My Love)," "He's So Shy," "Automatic," "Dare Me," "I'm So Excited" -- but it's a budget-line disc in every respect, doesn't have anything that the other Pointer comps fail to provide, and is tough on the eyes for starters. ~ Andy Kellman

RCA's The Best of the Pointer Sisters picks up where Hip-O's Yes We Can: The Best of the Blue Thumb Recordings leaves off, presenting 18 of the trio's hits for Planet and RCA Records. The collection begins with 1979's "Fire" and ends with "Goldmine," which peaked on the charts in 1987. In between those two songs are such massive hits as "He's So Shy," "Slow Hand," "Automatic," "Jump (For My Love)," "I'm So Excited," and "Neutron Dance." As these hits prove, the Pointer Sisters got a lot smoother once they left Blue Thumb, choosing to record seductive quiet-storm ballads and sprightly dance-pop. Fans of the Blue Thumb years may find this a little distasteful, but as this fine collection illustrates, the Pointer Sisters excelled in this area, just as they did with the funkier material for Blue Thumb. Anyone who is a fan of the group's late-'70s and early-'80s hits will not be disappointed by this disc, since it offers a definitive portrait of the Pointer Sisters at Planet and RCA. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize