To get an idea of exactly how many Ronnie Milsap collections are on the market, just turn to the back page of the booklet for RCA/Legacy's 2006 double-disc set The Essential Ronnie Milsap, where it lists other Ronnie albums you might also enjoy. There are ten listed, all but one of them a compilation (that would be his very, very good 2006 comeback, My Life). Which begs the natural question, is The Essential Ronnie Milsap needed? Especially since there is already another compilation called The Essential Ronnie Milsap (dating from 1995), and there already was an excellent double-disc set called 40 #1 Hits released six years earlier? The answer is, yes it is, particularly since 40 #1 Hits has fallen out of print. Of course, it also helps that Essential is an expertly chosen and sequenced collection of Milsap's best work, from 1973's "(All Together Now) Let's Fall Apart" and running all the way to 1989's "A Woman in Love."

Back to the Grindstone was an excellent return to form from Ronnie Milsap and, not coincidentally, it was his last great record, as well as his last hit album. Throughout Back to the Grindstone, Milsap displays his talent for eclectic, soul-inflected R&B, tearing throug a gritty duet with Patti LaBelle on "Love Certified," covering "Since I Don't Have You" with heart, and then slipping into hard country with "Turn That Radio On." Not one of the 10 songs on the record is weak, and Milsap responds with a gutsy, powerful performance, easily making Back to the Grindstone one of his best albums.