The Ventures - Ultimate Collection [Import] (CD)

All Music Guide

The back cover of this doubledisc set on See for Miles tells a lot of the story. This "ultimate collection" is more along the lines of the Ventures finest tunes, not necessarily performances. This is the band at a very late stage who could still play like all get out, but their ideas of arrangement and presentation had changed considerably from the early days. Is there anything wrong with this? Nope. The Ventures are the Ventures. Simply put, the novice just needs to know that the price of this collection and the recordings on it are not the original ones, pure and simple. For any seasoned fan, this music will be further fascination and intrigue as to how they can still do it. Arrangers like Jerry Moss and Bob Bogle are here, and the material, while slick in many places, is still utterly captivating in this legendary band's capable hands. [An import version with a similar track listing was also released.]

- Thom Jurek, All Music Guide