Mancini is a quirky genius. Growing up on John Williams Wagner-esque movie scores, Mancini's scores seem rather odd. They have a rumba night club feel-a mixture of "The Ventures" and "Pet Sounds"-unlike the energetic and overwhelming majesty of Star Wars or Indiana Jones. But that is the appeal of Mancini-his are subtle anti-themes.

It would have been helpful to have the tapes digitally re-mastered. They sound thick and stuffy, which blunts the music's edge. Mancini's daughter has rerecorded some of these hits, with some other additions, and the sound is clean (ASIN: B0001HAIFO). However, this disc has the original tunes as Mancini envisioned them.

Not a perfect sample of Mancicni's rich and award filled musical career, but probably as much as you could get on one CD. Here and there I would've included different cuts, but you can't please all the fans all the time.

Henry Mancini may well have been the geatest composer -- popular or classical -- of the 20th century. Although this album is entitled Henry Mancini's Greatest Hits and does indeed contain an excellent sampling of his hit songs, no single CD can contain all of Mancini's greatest hits. If you want all of the best of Mancini you have to get several CDs. Nevertheless, this CD is a very good place to start. Highly recommended.

Listen to it seven hundred times a day The best