End of Part One: Their Greatest Hits

From the time Wet Wet Wet's debut was released in 1987 to the time this best-of compilation was released in 1993, the band managed to become one of the biggest-selling acts in British chart history; and that was before the release of "Love Is All Around." End of Part One brings together Wet Wet Wet's hits from the late '80s and early '90s and is a good overview of the band's early catalog of work. Ranging from blue-eyed soul to radio-friendly pop, the disc catalogs the band's evolution, although it also serves to show some of the limitations of the band, most noticeably Marti Pellow's charismatic but limited vocal delivery. For casual fans, this is all the Wet Wet Wet you'll ever need, as End of Part One contains the best of their recordings without too much of the album fill. Apart from their biggest single, "Love Is All Around," there was nothing from the last few years of their existence that matched the quality of the songs collected here. ~ Jonathan Lewis