For The Lonely: 18 Greatest Hits
There's been a flood of compilations and reissues since his death in 1988, but Rhino's terrific package remains one of the best single discs of Orbison material. Opening with his two regional rockabilly hits for Sun Records and spanning the huge Monument hits, it reinforces why Elvis Presley viewed the Big O as his biggest competition during the Army years and why Orbison was the first '50s rocker to join the Traveling Wilburys. No compilation yet available covers his entire career, but this one certainly represents the hit years. One quibble: the stereo mixes, especially on "Blue Angel," are beautiful yet radically different from the mixes you may be more familiar with.--Bill Holdship