Editor's note: John Waite performs Saturday at the Pipeline Cafe; see ticket details on this page. Here's a look at a compilation of the singer's early biggest hits.

CD: "The Complete John Waite, Volume One: Falling Backwards" by John Waite; EMI Records.

Release: Nov. 12, 1996.

Style: Compilation.

My take: Starting in the 1970s, John Waite made a name for himself in the music industry by switching between lead-singer duties in two short-lived bands (The Babys and Bad English) and furthering his solo career, which is still going today, although not as strongly as in previous decades. "Falling Backwards" tries to summarize Waite's earlier career by compiling his best work from all three eras, a task made easier as Waite is the executive producer of the album.

Over the 17 tracks that make up the album, you get a nice collection of music that ranges from power ballads and guitar-based pop/rock, the two genres that ruled the '80s. But some may feel there's an imbalance in the way the material is presented: His two biggest singles hits are placed dead center in the album, there are only three tracks from Bad English, six are Babys material (all at the tail end of the album) and the remaining eight are from Waite's solo days. But the imbalance is understandable, as The Babys lasted five years and had many more hits, and bigger ones, than Bad English, which lasted a mere three.

Taking all of those facts into consideration, "Falling Backwards" is as forward as possible in the presentation of Waite's career. That being said, anyone looking for a good retrospective into his music, or someone searching for a good place to start an '80s collection that goes beyond the one-hit wonders, will be satisfied here.

It starts off with the lesser hit "How Did I Get By Without You," your typical ballad from the era, but with sincere enough lyrics not to stray into the standard cheesy territory. "Price of Love," one of Bad English's biggest hits, is the last of the band's appearances here, and is a nice way to end. "Missing You," the best track and Waite's first No. 1 hit, is in all its remastered glory, as is his other runaway hit, "Change," the last of Waite's solo songs here. The Babys' "Broken Heart," the tale of a gold-digging man-eater's path of destruction as told by one of her victims, is the best of that band's material, followed by the closing track "If You've Got the Time," which is uptempo with a more gritty rock sound than Waite's other songs.

As compilations go, "Falling Backwards" is pretty good. Its organization is a little off, but fans will get a good offering for their money. Waite's career carried on long after the era this album encompasses, and Waite's late-coming listeners will benefit by purchasing this album as a breezy retrospective.

Jeremy Castillo is a student at Windward Community College and the editor of the college's newspaper, Ka 'Ohana.