The Osmond Family were one of the great families of entertainers in the '60s and '70s, starting young and honing their performance skills for years before breaking through with "One Bad Apple" in 1971. That song is the greatest Jackson 5 cut that isn't by the Jackson 5, but the Osmonds weren't... [+] Expand

The Osmond Family were one of the great families of entertainers in the '60s and '70s, starting young and honing their performance skills for years before breaking through with "One Bad Apple" in 1971. That song is the greatest Jackson 5 cut that isn't by the Jackson 5, but the Osmonds weren't copycats -- most of their music is in the AM pop and bubblegum tradition of artists like Tommy Roe and the Partridge Family. The Osmonds spun off in all directions, with Donny, Marie, Little Jimmy, and the duo of Donny & Marie making their own concurrent hits. The All-Time Greatest Hits of the Osmond Family is a three-disc set that collects the high points of the Osmonds' recording careers, from "One Bad Apple" to their various late-'80s pop and country comeback hits. The Osmonds quickly moved away from the Jackson 5 sound after their first few hits and dabbled in hard rock ("Crazy Horses") and folksy pop ("Chilly Winds"), while Donny's and Marie's solo recordings gravitated toward teen idol fare that amounts to a '70s update of Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen (except that Donny, in particular, could really sing). The Donny & Marie sides are the real charmers in the bunch and show how appealing the Osmonds' sound could be -- those cuts, and the classic "One Bad Apple," are the ones with the potential to convert Osmond skeptics. From a consumer standpoint, the box set is unfortunately thin. Curb has released single-disc Osmond anthologies that offer more tracks than any one disc in this set, and the booklet has -- for a box set -- disappointingly brief notes and few pictures. The set rounds up the chart highlights of the various solo and combination acts within the Osmond family and is a handy all-in-one package in that regard, but it could have been more generous and detailed in its presentation. It also could have compiled all of the Osmonds' Top 40 hits without increasing its length, but several are omitted. A real Osmond maniac could buy the Osmonds' 21 Hits, Donny Osmond's 25 Hits, Marie Osmond's 25 Hits, and one of the Donny & Marie anthologies (all of which are inexpensive) and get about 50 percent more music at a comparable price. For less dedicated listeners with a broad interest in the doings of the the Osmonds, The All-Time Greatest Hits of the Osmond Family will suffice. ~ Greg Adams, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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