Manufactured by Sony Music Special Products, the Platinum Disc Corporation's Monster 88 Hits is a discount-priced compilation of recordings that made the pop singles charts during 1988 after being released by one of the labels of what was then CBS Records: Columbia, Epic, or an Epic subsidiary. CBS (now known as Sony Music Entertainment) was very successful in 1988, boasting the two biggest pop singles artists of the year, George Michael and Michael Jackson. But neither of them are here, nor are such other big stars as Gloria Estefan and Bruce Springsteen, all of whom presumably have contracts that preclude the use of their tracks on compilations. Such omissions are understandable, then, but you have to wonder why there aren't tracks by Cheap Trick, Kenny Loggins, and Eddie Money, each of whom had a Top Ten hit on a CBS label in 1988. In their place, we have some big hits by minor acts, such as Will to Power's chart-topping medley of Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird," and Terence Trent D'Arby's "Wishing Well," his sole number one hit. There are minor hits by middle-level stars like Cyndi Lauper and REO Speedwagon, final pop singles chart entries by Teena Marie and Deniece Williams, and debut hits by Basia and New Kids on the Block. It all adds up to a miscellaneous collection from a listener's point of view, though it makes more sense from the record label's standpoint. The price is cheap, so if there are a couple of your late-'80s favorites here, be our guest. But the compilation can't be counted a successful survey of 1988 in pop music. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide