When

For once, Bear Family Records has compromised on a retrospective -- the Kalin Twins left behind 38 songs, but only 30 of them are here, obviously to hold this to a single disc. Some of the stuff not present includes their covers of Gene Pitney's "Loneliness" and Jackie DeShannon's "Trouble," but there's some fascinating material in its place -- the unreleased 1960 vintage "Make Love to Me" was a sincere attempt to give the duo a more mature sound, and their never-before-issued version of "Bye Bye Blackbird" has a surprise or two. "When" is the best-known song here, and it's surrounded by some pleasant, lively teen pop ("Bubbles," "Schoolbell Dream"), but the country-rocker "Picture of You" is also very worthwhile. And "It's Only the Beginning" is one of the most unabashedly beautiful and achingly romantic pieces of pop/rock of the period that one is likely ever to hear. Some of this is too sappy for words ("True Love"), but it's still enjoyable overall. The order of the material is a bit haphazard, skipping around between years and sessions, but that can be fixed with some player programming. ~ Bruce Eder