Well, several volumes of the Rhino collection aren't perfect, but they all bring us back in their own inimitable way. "Love Is Like Oxygen" has the perfect lyrical "hook" as well as a variety of musical gimmicks. "How Much I Feel" is either totally saccharine or a genuine tearjerker depending on your point of view, but they sure sang it like they felt it. Wow! "Falling", a slowdance harmony classic for the next hundred years, is rightfully included here, too. Gino Vanelli can take his big 'fro elsewhere for all I care, but I'm sure he has his fans (in Montreal and elsewhere). "5705" and "New York Groove" appear to have been included for archival purposes only. Did anyone actually like those songs when they came out? "My Angel Baby", an instant classic, joins the pantheon of 50's-sound "stroll" tunes, and its similarities to Robert John's "Sad Eyes" are obvious (once the Rhino folks call attention to this in their liner notes). "Love Takes Time" and "Shake It" contain a strong sexual subtext, hearkening back to an era where songs couldn't be "explicit" in their lyrics. "Get Used To It", an upbeat one-hit wonder, remains one of the few songs of the rock era using a synthesized harpsichord. Maxine's "Lead Me On" slows the tempo as the CD concludes with the anarchistic, defeatist "Oh Well" ("I can't sing, I ain't pretty, and my legs are thin"). You need this CD. Get it now, so you know what the originals sounded like before Jewel and/or Lenny Kravitz records a re-make!

Rhino closes out their compilation series "Super Hits of the '70s - Have A Nice Day" with this twentyfifth volume (who would have thought they would have gone this far!). The tracks here come from 1978 and 1979 and were all top-30 pop hits, nine of which were top-20 with four of them making top-10. Adding a bit more interest to this volume is the appearance of a few seldom-found tracks, namely City Boy's "5.7.0.5., Ace Frehley's (of Kiss) "New York Groove" and Roger Voudouris' "Get Used To It" all classifiable as one-hit wonders. Whether intended or not, the appearance of "Oh Well" as the final track on this final volume in the series has a twinge of irony about it. Sound quality it decent and an eight-page liner notes booklet provides some backround on the included tracks. All told, a respectable finale to this amazing series documenting the top-40 music of the 70's.

As time wore on for this series, Rhino started using full length versions of these songs as opposed to radio and single edits. One edit, however, was used for this final entry to this series and that song is "Love Is Like Oxygen." The group Oxygen sounded a lot like E.L.O. of the late seventies; the full length version of "Love Is Like Oxygen" is nearly seven minutes long. There are lots of edits throughout this series, Player was severely edited on both their songs, as was Robert John's "Sad Eyes. " Singles were the focus of this series, but I have to admit I don't care for edits and until this last disc came out, I pretty much stayed away from this series. I do own a few of these cd's, especially the one's that have songs from the late seventies when I was in High School and listened to a lot of radio. As I've grown older, my attention steered from the catchy hooks and turned toward production and voice. The songs here not only bring back great memories, but are extremely well done. "Love Is Like Oxygen" is a catchy, upbeat song full of hooks and it's easy to hear why this song was the hit it was. "Falling" was one of my favorite songs, LeBlanc and Carr sing well and harmonize like they are joined at the hip. The ballad has tones of blues. "I Just Wanna Stop" turned me on to Gino Vannelli and his big hair. His voice is just as big as his hair and hasn't changed much after all these years. According to music critics, men who are the lead singers of arena rock groups like Styx, claim that age make all these guys sound like Gino, who by the way, records for Verve records and has released two fine jazz albums to date. "My Angel Baby" was a hit song, it's a bit doo-wop toned down, I forgot the song existed until I bought this disc. "Lead Me On" is a great song I hadn't heard in years, Maxine was an early disco queen with "Get Right Back Where We Started From." She performs this ballad, with r&b harmonies, beautifully. "Love Takes Time" was an adult radio staple, a huge hit for Orleans who's song "Still The One" was used as a jingle for ABC television. This collection presents the biggest singles from the artists here and is a fine closer for this series.

I have owned most of the HAVE A NICE DAY CDs for several years but I picked this one up just last week and was quite surprised how enjoyable it was. At first glance I didn't recognize some of the songs but upon hearing them I found I did. Anyone over 30 knows FALLING when they hear it. It's a soft-rock classic. LOVE IS LIKE OXYGEN is delightfully cheesy and just try not to sing along with the soaring MY ANGEL BABY. I don't think I ever heard 5.7.0.5. before but it's goofy enough and fits right into the flow of this very entertaining CD.

All original versions, even if you get only the 45 version of Sweet's "Love Is Like Oxygen." A couple of minor hits ("5.7.0.5." and "Get Used to It") don't really detract much from this final entry in Rhino Records' exhaustive series of 70s pop songs.