Released in 2018,
Best of Kenny Rogers: Through the Years focuses squarely on
Rogers' golden era of the late 1970s and early '80s, letting 20 hits pile up in chronological order. The set begins with "Lucille," his Top Ten breakthrough from 1977, and draws to a conclusion with the 1987
Ronnie Milsap duet "Make No Mistake, She's Mine," adding the 2006 single "I Can't Unlove You" as a coda. In between, there are a bunch of big hits -- "Daytime Friends," "Love or Something Like It," "The Gambler," "Coward of the County," "You Decorated My Life," "Lady," "Love Will Turn You Around," plus duets with
Kim Carnes,
Dottie West, and
Sheena Easton -- but not all of them. Notably, there is nothing from the
First Edition and "Islands in the Stream," his smash duet with
Dolly Parton, is nowhere to be found. Their absence makes
Through the Years somewhat less than definitive, yet it's still a fine roundup of his prime hitmaking period. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine