Ultimate 16: Ultimate 80'S Rock CD

Ultimate 80's Rock doesn't avoid filler as well as some of the titles in this budget-line series from Warner. But while a set list including two songs each from Night Ranger and Whitesnake as well as Ugly Kid Joe's "Hate Everything About You" and Extreme's spindly "More Than Words" is a little groan-inducing -- particularly because there are hundreds of better songs in the "'80s rock" canon -- this comp still has some nostalgia value. Or at least some laughs. It's still fun trying to hit Tom Keifer's high notes on Cinderella's "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)," or whistle along with the Scorpions' Berlin Wall meditation "Wind of Change." Besides, Nelson's big closer, "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection," is proven to be a better song than most will remember. ~ Johnny Loftus