The tenth album from Nils Lofgren and his first for Columbia is a very polished affair with excellent production from Lofgren and Lance Quinn. The material is written by Lofgren, and it is all strong to very strong, with lyrics bordering on lecturing the listener. "Flip Ya Flip," the title track, and "Big Tears Fall" are the most commercial songs here, "Flip Ya Flip" a real odd one, though. Lofgren calls the guys "buddy," telling them to "lift your pretty head, hold it high" and the gals he calls "sister," terms of endearment for sure from a macho figure who has full-fledged membership in the "E Street" gang. Is the title track about an off-color gesture or life on a trampoline or indiscernible sexuality?

Spectrum Music, a British division of PolyGram devoted to budget-priced compilations of material from the major label's vaults, is responsible for this CD-length collection drawn from the fourth Grin album, 1973's Gone Crazy (the other three were on Spindizzy and now are owned by Sony), and bandleader Nils Lofgren's first five solo albums: Nils Lofgren (1975), Cry Tough (1976), I Came to Dance (1977), the live Night After Night (1977), and Nils (1979), all of which were released originally on A&M Records. Since no chart singles emerged from these LPs, there isn't any objective criterion for what might constitute the best of them, though a subjective consensus of Grin/Lofgren fans no doubt would agree with the inclusion of the Keith Richards tribute "Keith Don't Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twin)," "Back It Up," and "The Sun Hasn't Set on This Boy Yet," all from Nils Lofgren.