This hits package is essentially intended to bring the U.S. audience up to date with the huge success of Tom Jones' 1999 U.K. release RELOAD, which paired Jones with several contemporary artists. Accordingly, RELOADED is a mix of classics such as "It's Not Unusual" and "What's New Pussycat" (with marvelously remastered fidelity) and newer collaborations.

You probably already know how great the old material is. As far as the new stuff goes, the Stereophonics lend a slight, oddly appropriate Britrock feel to the Randy Newman-penned "Mama Told Me Not to Come." Jones and Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews' take on "Baby, It's Cold Outside" won't make anybody forget Ray Charles and Betty Carter, but it's mostly played for laughs anyway. A duet with Van Morrison on VM's own "Sometimes We Cry" is a soulful, natural-sounding affair. Tom ventures into trip-hop with a Portishead-assisted "Motherless Child" and gets electro-funk alongside the Cardigans on the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House." All these new accoutrements make RELOADED a greatest-hits album with a difference--and a fresh perspective.