AMG Review of Greatest Hits: 1985 to 1993

Andrew Hamilton
All Music Guide

Early chart smashes "Never Knew Love Like This" and "Sweet Sensation" didn't make it onto this one, so you can't call Greatest Hits: 1985 to 1993 -- which represents Stephanie Mills' last run of hits MCA Records -- definitive. Mills interprets Angela Winbush's songs as if they were sent to her directly from God: "(Something in the Way) You Make Me Feel" and "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love" -- originally by Alton McClain & Destiny -- are thrilling examples. Ever romantic, Mills remains the swept-away lover, as the exhilarating "(You're Puttin') a Rush on Me" and "I Feel Good All Over" attest too. Her remake of Gladys Knight & the Pips' "If I Was Your Woman" stirs the same can of emotions as the original. "Home," a song with a heavy message, closes her live shows: the uplifting ballad prompts encore after encore. The only other knock aside from the two missing hits: the contrived disco tracks like "Stand Back." Mills should have passed on the dumb stuff.