The 20th Century Masters series is the best-selling single-artist line in music history and is being re-released by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) in its ground-breaking, environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) will be completely paper-recyclable, continuing the company's long-standing commitment to being "green."To further reduce the amount of paper in the Eco-Pack, the CD booklet will no longer be offered. Official liner notes are easily accessible on the Internet at http://www.ilovethatsong.com/green.UMe is the first North American music company to replace the traditional jewel case with recycled paperboard sleeves and the plastic tray with trays made from PaperFoam®, a new packaging technology from Shorewood Packaging, a business of International Paper, that is paper-recyclable and biodegradable. Shorewood Packaging is the first North American packaging supplier to produce disc trays from PaperFoam®.The Mamas and the Papas blazed across the '60s folk-rock scene, scoring nine Top 40 hits in less than two years. So bright was their brief run that it earned them a berth in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This set shows at least some of the reason why--there's the era-defining hit "California Dreamin'," plus other triumphs such as "Monday, Monday," "Words of Love," "Dedicated to the One I Love," and the autobiographical "Creeque Alley." Perplexingly, the 20th Century Masters set substitutes "Dancing Bear" for "Glad to Be Unhappy," which was a bigger hit. Then too, the set is skimpy compared to their previously released Greatest Hits, but it does win points for including two Cass Elliot solo hits, "Make Your Own Kind of Music" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me." --Daniel Durchholz
