My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Dig Four Tops Anthology (Motown, 1974). The Four Tops, who started singing together in high school, were one of the grandest acts Motown ever produced. Levi Stubbs who was "more of a stylist, if you will" possessed one of the great voices in Soul and he led Obi Benson, Lawrence Payton and Duke Fakir through hit after hit. Their most famous songs were created by the legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland team, and include "(Reach Out) I'll Be There", "I Can't Help Myself","Bernadette", "Turn to Stone" and scores of others. And you might never realize how good "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" could sound, until you've heard Levi sing it. They were never quite as sophisticated as the Tempations could be, but on pure emotion they were every bit their equals. Shake Me, Wake Me, when you hear this.