Search - Carly Simon :: Anthology (Dig)

Terrific Collection Of Carly Simon's Greatest Hits!

Barron Laycock | Temple, New Hampshire United States | 07/28/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Carly Simon straddled the world between folk and pop music in the early 1970s and gradually emerged from the shadow of other folk titans to become a pop singer of verve and moment, earning herself a place in the pantheon of very successful singers like Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, and a number of others like Carol King who were on the pop charts and in the folk clubs earlier in their career. This album is a wonderful summary of the best of her efforts throughout her career, including those early years. From her breakthrough hits like -That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be- and -Anticipation- to later smash singles like -Loving You Is the Right Thing To Do- and -You're So Vain- (rumored to be written about everyone from James Taylor to Mick Jagger, but more likely a joke aimed at actor Warren Beatty) is all here.



This collection successfully gathers the best of those early years in one place, and then adds to it those superb follow-on efforts with a second CD that reprises her second stage efforts with another collection of more adult-centered pop hits. Even though I usually prefer to sample an artist in context in their early albums, even I have to admit this is a great comprehensive overview of the collective efforts from Carly Simon. There are a lot of good songs here, like the terrific -Legend In Your Own Time- about then beau James Taylor, and the rocking -Mockingbird-, a duet done with Taylor.



Indeed, there are other interesting, provocative, and beautiful selections here, including my own personal favorite, -I Haven't Got Time For The Pain-. This is a great look at a fascinating artist who later made a terrific comeback album called -Coming Around Again-, with hits such as the title cut, as well as superb numbers like -The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of- to regain her audience and popularity, which she used to great advantage in the years since, with a number of hits included here from -Better Not Tell Her- to -All I Want Is You-, and from -It Happens Every Day- to -Like A River-. It is one of her best and most representative greatest hits albums yet, and it gives us an interesting vantage point with which to understand her better. This is a terrific greatest hits album by an artist who is often under-appreciated. This is one I heartily recommend. Enjoy!

"

Make your own - this one is missing too many...

Christopher Todd Durnil | Champaign, IL United States | 10/03/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I am a HUGE Carly Simon fan, and while I was happy to see a comprehensive collection covering Carly's expansive career of hits, too many major songs were missing from this collection, and too many unnecessary songs were added, to make this anthology definitve. Sad, because it is probably the collection that most will turn to first to get an initial Carly collection going, but they will be missing out on many of Carly's key tracks...



While this easily could have been a three disc set, Carly has had a box set done (the superior "Clouds In My Coffee," which places the songs in thematic discs, not chronological order), I decided to make my own Carly Anthology and include the songs I felt best represented her career. I also took Anthology's approach to leave the collection as a two-disc set and present the songs in the order to which they were released.Here's my collection:



DISC 1:

1) That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be

2) Anticipation

3) Legend In Your Own Time

4) Julie Through the Glass

5) Angel from Montgomery

6) You're So Vain

7) We Have No Secrets

8) The Right Thing to Do

9) Night Owl

10) Mockingbird

11) I Haven't Got Time for the Pain

12) Attitude Dancing

13) Waterfall

14) It Keeps You Running

15) Libby (Another Passenger)

16) Nobody Does It Better

17) You Belong to Me

18) Boys In the Trees

19) Devoted to You

20) Vengeance

21) Never Been Gone



DISC 2:

1) Spy

2) We're So Close

3) Jesse

4) Not a Day Goes By

5) Why

6) Hello Big Man

7) My New Boyfriend

8) Coming Around Again

9) The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

10) All I Want Is You

11) Do the Walls Come Down?

12) Let the River Run

13) Time After Time

14) Better Not Tell Her

15) Didn't I?

16) Love of My Life

17) Like a River

18) Touched By the Sun

19) So Many Stars





I think this makes a much better collection. I have reserved many of my favorite Carly non-hits for a third disc, but these best represent her popular favorites. I can't believe Rhino put out this Anthology and didn't include "Libby," "We're So Close," "Hello Big Man," "Didn't I?" and "So Many Stars" - an act which is criminal since these are among Carly's greatest songs she's written.I wish someone would release a complete definitive collection of Carly's movie songs. Carly has written enough music for movies to fill a entire cd. Also, there are many unreleased studio recordings and b-sides throughout Carly's career that would make a great collection. And it's a damn shame that "Hello Big Man" and "The Bedroom Tapes" are out of print, they are two of Carly's strongest albums.



As it stands, do not look at this collection as a "definitive" set of Carly's best. If you're a fan, make your own collection. If you're just getting acquainted with Carly's wonderful music, start with the "Clouds..." box set and delve further..."

It's the superior sound quality

Jacob Whatley | 02/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Carly Simon's two disc Anthology contains forty songs -- and all but one was previously available on compact disc (the new track is the live recording of "Touched by the Sun"). So you own Warner Brothers' The Best of Carly Simon Volume I (single disc), you own Arista's three disc boxed set Clouds In My Coffee and you own Arista's Greatest Hits Live (single disc) -- what do you need this one for?It's an appropriate question. Even more so if you're also someone who owns all of Simon's studio albums. Why buy Anthology for any reason other than to keep the collection complete? Especially at this price?There is a wonderful essay in the booklet that comes with the Anthology. There are some interesting photos. And?For me, the deciding factor was all the talk of the superior sound quality. The reviewers are not mistaken, there is a world of difference in the sound quality of the previous versions (whether they're songs from the seventies, eighties or nineties). I don't think it's just an issue of remastering. I think a number of songs have been remixed to bring tracks that were previously buried in the mix more to the foreground. This isn't a make it or break it test for Carly fans. Having this album doesn't make you a better fan and not having doesn't make you a worse one. But having it does give you a new perspective on recordings you previously felt you had heard.Are there any complaints to be made? Sure. It would be easy to point out that the B-side to "Give Me All Night," a wonderful song called "Sleight of Hand," is still not available on disc.
Despite a boxed set and now a two disc anthology, the only way to hear this song remains vinyl. Want to hear her song to the mini-series Sins? Well you'll still have try to find it on an import CD. Don't believe import's even an option for her song from the film Torchlight. And in my group of Carly Simon listeners, we're all agreed that "Touched by the Sun" was not the song performed at Grand Central that needed to find it's way onto compact disc. (The majority weighs in on her radical reworking of "We Have No Secrets.")That's song selection. And it's certainly valid to comment on what this could have been. But let's deal with what it is: a Simon album you need to hear with your own ears. As with her other release this year, Christmas is Almost Here, in my circle many were surprised to hear the actual CDs having heard samples online. The online samples do not begin to demonstrate the superior sound quality to this collection.Time's are tough and album prices continue to rise. So if the cost seems too high to go into blindly for what may be thirty-nine songs you already have (plus one new live track), try to find someone who has Anthology already. Listen to it and I'm willing to bet you'll decide quickly that this anthology is worth the cost."