Well, it really took ages holding a copy of a Robert Owens Best of compilation in my hands. Over the years Robert has become something like an icon in the house music area beginning with Larry Heard's Fingers Inc. and songs like Never No More Lonely, Bring Down The Walls, Can You Feel It (featured here) or Distant Planet and then recording with Frankie Knuckles and Satoshi Tomiie the now classic Tears. An album under the guidance of Frankie Knuckles and David Morales followed on 4th & B'way and although it was and still is good it wasn't very successful (Vision and Changes from this album are included here). In the following years I only recognized Robert as some kind of session singer for various producers and of course he worked with Larry Heard again e.g. for the Mr. Fingers Introduction album or with David Morales for I'll Be Your Friend (also included here).
Together with the likes of CeCe Rogers or Michael Watford Robert is the one male singer of house music who was there from the beginning and still makes records today. So this double CD is a great opportunity to reflect on his previous work. Ok, some favourites of mine are missing (namely his collaboration with Dennis Ferrer for So Into You) and some are included in more inferior remixes (like Ordinary People), but then everybody has a different taste and I'm happy to get some tracks I've missed so far, in fact there a quite a lot I must have missed over the years judging from the 25 songs here on offer. And with each CD over 78 minutes this is really a collector's item and value for your money.