Michael Bolton - Ultimate Collection (CD)

Amazing Voice

By Eric Halcon  Jan 2, 2007

Pros: Each Track Counts - A Worthy Investment

Cons: Greatest Hits 1985-1995 was released last decade

As a child raised in the 80s and 90s, I have always been keen to listening to ballads in FM radio. As such, I have grown to love Michael Bolton's music. My mom even confessed that he is one of her favorite contemporary performers. My dad, when he was still alive, would even play his albums when driving his red Toyota Corolla. When I was about 10 years old, my ears were fixated everytime I hear How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, a ballad Bolton wrote for the late Laura Branigan. Branigan's version stalled in the charts in the 80s while Bolton's rendition of his own composition gave him his 1st #1 in the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1990.

Last June, I was able to reward myself with a 2 CD compilation of Michael Bolton The Ultimate Collection, a rare collection of his hits chronicling 1987's The Hunger all the way to 1997's All That Matters. One will never know how much I am thrilled everytime I find something rare, having enough money to buy it adds fuel to the fire of frenzy. I was able to purchase the CD in a very unlikely place, in SM Sucat's Department Store. Pressed in 2002, The Ultimate Collection was something I missed since it never got any media mileage. At that time, Bolton already left his Columbia label and settled for Jive Records.

From 6th grade onwards, Michael Bolton's albums were a staple in my cassette player. I had to wear out three copies of Time, Love and Tenderness (1991) until his Greatest Hits 1985-1995 was released. I wore out two copies of Timeless The Classics (1992) because of his remake of the Bee Gees classic, To Love Somebody. I also wore out two copies of The One Thing (1993), which featured the Bill Withers hit, Lean On Me. My classmates and I in Junior year highschool even made this song a part of our oral production in English class, which I directed. If memory serves me right, it was an interpretative song and dance number. I even got exempted in the 4th Quarterly Exams in the said subject.

Even in college, Bolton's music proved to have longevity. I was a Freshman when Disney commissioned him to sing the theme to the animated film Hercules (1997) called Go The Distance, one of my personal anthems in life, a guiding principle, so to speak.

If ever I get to tie the knot, I want the orchestra of the church to play Now That I Found You and Once In A Lifetime (from the Columbia Tristar movie Only You, starring Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey) on my wedding day as I wait for her to walk down the aisle. All of which are Michael Bolton staples. When I have kids of my own, I will dedicate Soul of my Soul to them on the day of their christening.

Hats off to Mr. Bolton for providing me and my family a great array of memories! Thanks to his music! Truly, a great music influence.