Robert Goulet's only Top 40 pop hit was "My Love, Forgive Me (Amore, Scusami)," which makes the "greatest-hits" concept dodgy, and Columbia Records, his label starting in 1961, doesn't bother to include his Top Five easy listening hit, "Come Back to Me, My Love" from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, or most of his other easy listening hits for that matter, so chart success is not the primary criterion on this collection, which is really more of a best-of. It begins with a live recording of
Goulet's signature song, "If Ever I Would Leave You," drawn from the Robert Goulet in Person album rather than the version from the original Broadway cast album of Camelot that helped make him a star. Otherwise, an attempt has been made to draw material from across
Goulet's catalog, to display his versatility by having him sing in different languages, and to showcase him in suitably anthemic Broadway material like "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" that brings out the best in his big baritone voice. That makes for a reasonable sampling of his talents, but even for the LP era, 29 minutes is a bit short. ~ William Ruhlmann