After the success of Bloody Tourists, and the artsy excess of Look Hear?, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman gave the rest of the band their walking papers, and recorded this album as a duo. Sounding fresh and energized, this was by far 10cc's best album since 1977's Deceptive Bends. Maintaining a mild case of the quirkiness of old, Stewart and Gouldman embrace some of their finest melodies on this release, allowing the songs to speak for themselves. "Don't Ask" is one of those great little pop songs that you think you've heard somewhere before, but haven't, and it should have been a massive single, but wasn't.

With 10cc's last album, Bloody Tourists, having spun off the monster hit "Dreadlock Holiday," it would be a very brave person indeed who could argue that the most consistently inventive band of the previous eight years had finally run out of steam. But there were clues; no follow-up hits on the last album, a certain lack of pizzazz on their most recent tours, and an incapacitating car accident that kept Eric Stewart immobile for almost nine months. Put all that together and, when Look Hear? did finally materialize, the surprise might have been that it was as good as it was.

When Kevin Godley and Lol Creme left 10cc in 1976 to pursue a solo career, many thought it was the death knell for the group. However, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman kept the group alive as a duo (with the assistance of percussionist Paul Burgess) and turned in a surprisingly solid album with 1977's Deceptive Bends. It may lack the devil-may-care wackiness that popped up on previous 10cc albums, but it makes up for it by crafting a series of lush, catchy pop songs that are witty in their own right.

Displaying a command of pop styles and satire, 10cc showed that they are a force to be reckoned with on their first album. Hooks abound, harmonies shine, and instrumentation is dazzling without being overdone. Though charges of "self-consciously clever" could be leveled at the group, their command of witty, Anglo-styled pop is so impressive that even those criticisms must be weighed against the mastery of styles. All four members sing lead and are talented songwriters, and this leads to a wide variety of styles that add to their vision. Featuring their number one U.K. hit "Rubber Bullets," 10cc wade through ten selections of satire and parody.

For a band whose useful lifespan ran to nine albums, 10cc have been oddly represented by the compilations market. Their first two albums, of course, have been reissued and rejigged in virtually every conceivable permutation; the next four have at least been bled for the hits on a near-annual basis. But a super-rare Japanese four-CD box set notwithstanding, no attempt has ever been made to truly illustrate the band's entire career, from "Donna" to demise. Welcome, then, The Ultimate Collection, which not only does a fine job in unearthing all you need to know about those nine original albums, it also splits the discs in such a way that the first one gives you all the hits you remember, while the second serves up the songs that you very likely missed altogether.

Released as part of the ongoing 7T's series on RPM, 10cc's The UK Records Singles Collection is a tight, 14-track collection of the band's earliest recordings – those for UK Recordings, naturally. This was before the big crossover hits started coming – in other words, don't look for "The Things We Do for Love" or "I'm Not in Love" here – and it's a document of when they were the weirdest band in the world…or, "The Worst Band in the World," to use their own words. That tongue-in-cheek classic is here, along with "Johnny Don't Do It," "Wall Street Shuffle," and "Donna," among other highlights that showcase 10cc at their oddest and fizziest and poppiest, if not quite always their strangest. For that, turn to more complete anthologies of UK Records, but this hits a sweet spot for those that want a sampler or those non-10cc listeners looking for some glammy (but not strictly glam) '70s nuggets.

This "Early Years" collection though concentrates on their time with U.K. Records and features every A and B side released by the band between 1972 and 1974. Five hit singles, two near missed and seven rarely heard B sides that all show 10cc at their creative best.

10cc's first two albums, recorded under the sponsorship of entrepreneur and one-time pop star Jonathan King, are combined on one disc for this CD reissue. 1973's 10cc shows that from the start, the group had an uncommon command of recording studio technique; the performances are polished, the harmonies superb, and the production flawless and often witty (all the more remarkable from a new band producing themselves, albeit one comprised of music-biz vets). However, the group was still getting up to speed in terms of their songwriting at this point, and while the craft is fine, there isn't a lot of inspiration on hand. Except for the sardonic "Rubber Bullets" and sarcastically sprightly "The Dean and I," the '50s-inspired parodies on side one don't wear well, and most of side two is clever but not terribly distinguished. 1974's Sheet Music was where 10cc truly hit their stride; the album is full of effective barbed humor buffered by the superbly polished production, which leans toward pretension without quite falling into the pool.