Greatest Hits

This set charts Squeeze's course from their late '70s beginnings through the sadly overlooked FRANK in 1989. While all these selections weren't bona fide hits, they were all released as singles and certainly should have been chart-toppers. Leaders Difford and Tilbrook know how to craft true pop gems (and the Beatle comparisons they received are more than warranted), with hooks that manage to be innovative in sometimes subtle ways--"Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" being a case in point. That these twenty songs possess the familiarity of warmly remembered hits even if they're a new experience for the listener says much about the high level of writing, arranging and playing skills that characterize this blue chip ensemble.