The three albums that form the peak of the Steve Miller Band's output happened in the middle of his career, and for a long time Greatest Hits 1974-78 perfectly captured the best of those songs. However, rock radio still plays tunes from before and after that period, and until this collection there was no way to get all of those songs in one place.

Now, Young Hearts has supplanted both 74-78 and the other, earlier hits collections on the market to serve as the best overview and introduction to this pop rock band. For most listeners, this is all the Steve Miller they will need, as it contains all of his major hits that are on the radio every day plus the important songs from before and after that period. It should be noted this does not contain all of his charting singles, but most of those a) charted pretty low and b) are not very good, so listeners outside of the faithful are not missing anything.

The single versions of these songs are presented, which doesn't make much sense, since with a full CD format the compilers could easily have added on the extra instrumental breaks from "Jet Airliner" and "Fly Like An Eagle," but that's a minor flaw. These are the party rock songs that everyone knows by heart, along with catchy pop gems like "Take The Money And Run," "Rock 'N' Me," "The Joker," "Swingtown," "The Stake" and "Jungle Love," along with lesser Miller standards like "Dance Dance Dance" and "Serenade." For some reason, the excellent ballad "Winter Time" has been shelved, and it is recommended at some point, but everything else necessary from this era is here.

From Miller's early days with the blues and psychedelic scene (prior to The Joker) come the driving propulsion of "Livin' In The USA" (check out that bassline!), the goofy Paul McCartney collaboration "My Dark Hour" (from which Miller would steal the guitar lick for "Fly Like An Eagle" seven years later) and the very good "Space Cowboy," featuring one of Miller's best solos. These are pretty much the best songs from this era and they slot in perfectly between the more commercial (read: overplayed) songs listed above.

Five songs come from the post-Book Of Dreams era, including Miller's last big hit, "Abracadabra." Unfortunately, this single version shaves off the final minute and a half of the song, the part with the spooky instrumental and ghostly guitar lick that really brings the song home, and that version is strongly encouraged over this one. Still, it's nice to have it with all the other hits. Also present is 1984's dull "Who Do You Love," the pretty good "I Want To Make The World Turn Around" (which could be mistaken for a Moody Blues song from the same era), the outright blues-rock of "Cry Cry Cry" and the pop of "Wide River," which could have been a hit from Book Of Dreams and fits in nicely.

Those who grew up with 74-78 will always have a special place in their hearts for those songs and that sequence, but for most others (or those who need to update their worn-out 74-78 disc), Young Hearts is a near perfect summary of the Steve Miller band's biggest and best songs.

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