Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said: "Released roughly three days after Michael Jackson's passing, The Definitive Collection is a 19-track collection of highlights from his Motown recordings, including the hits he had with his brothers in the Jackson 5. This emphasizes Michael's solo hits over the Jackson 5's — there are ten cuts of him alone, nine with his brothers (and one of those is an alternate "minus mix" of "I'll Be There") — which skews this a little bit toward puppy love over bubblegum, something that may be a little too syrupy for some listeners, but there's no denying that for fans lacking a collection of Michael's earliest hits, this is a useful compilation, gathering "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save," "Who's Lovin' You," "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Got to Be There," "Rockin' Robin," "Ben," and "Dancing Machine" in one place.".

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