Disco de Carly Simon: “The Carly Simon Anthology”

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.

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.

Leave it to Rhino Records to release the definitive Carly Simon collection. The 1995 Carly Simon boxed set inexplicably left off several hit songs, and did not present the songs in chronological order. Including previously unreleased songs and obscure album tracks, the boxed set's appeal was geared more towards the hard core collector. This compilation wisely includes all of Carly Simon's top 40 hits, as well as many familiar album tracks, presented in chronological order. The sound quality is superb, the packaging is great, the liner notes are entertaining as well as informative, and the photos are exquisite.

"That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" was Carly's breakthrough hit and the obvious choice to lead off the first disc. Its matter of fact reasoning for getting married is just as relevant today as when it was first released. Mick Jagger's background vocals on the #1 hit "You're So Vain" never sounded so strikingly clear. The confessional "We Have No Secrets" hints that honesty may not always be the best policy. Carly's growling vocals on "Vengeance" proved that she could rock out with the best of them. "Come Upstairs" sounds as playful as it does seductive, and is one of my favorite songs. "My Romance" is a beautiful rendition of the classic Rogers and Hart song. The liner notes boast that "Let The River Run" is perhaps the best song ever written for a movie. While that statement is subject to debate, there is no question that all of Carly Simon's best songs to date are included in this anthology.

I don't know whether it says more about the quality of music today or my age, but this is the first CD I have purchased for myself in years. If, like me, you are tired of paying $15 to hear two familiar tracks, you will be pleased with the bounty of music you get for your money with "Anthology". Although it is a CD set, it is more like two separate CDs-each one loaded to the brim with good music.

The first CD features most of Carly's popular hits. Memory evoking songs such as "Anticipation", "You're So Vain", "Attitude Dancing" and "Legend in Your Own Time" will have you fighting (unsuccessfully) the against the desire to sing along. Some later hits ("Nobody Does It Better and "Vengence") sound good too.

The second CD features some songs lesser-known than the first, but can still stand on its own. Several of Carly's later songs ("Let the River Run","Better Not Tell Her", "Coming Around Again", and "Love of My Life") were on the radio for too brief a time and in my opinion received too little airplay. Some of these titles I did not recognize initially, but were immediately familiar to me when I heard them. You may have the same experience.

As an added bonus there were several tracks in this set that I had not heard before. After listening to "It Happens Everday", "Julie Through the Glass", and "At Times in My Head" I found them growing on me easily.

I particularly liked the way the songs were arranged in chronological order. It made the set seem like a soundtrack to Carly's life. The songs on the first CD tend be about new love, relationships and heartbreak. The later songs on the second CD are about marriage ("Coming Around Again"), family ("Two Sisters", "Love of My Life") and even death ("The River").

The sets packaging and accompanying notes are worth mentioning. Suffice it to say there is a lot there. Reference info is provided for each track. Also included is a lengthy but entertaining essay from a die-hard Carly fan. What he writes will strike a familiar chord if you are old enough to remember when the songs on the first CD were "new".

In summary, this a very satisfying CD set. I purchased it over a week ago and am still listening at least once a day.

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...

Carly Simon - with her distinctive alto - has been churning out quality music for over thirty years. The talented singer-songwriter's first career encompassing retrospective, the three-disc box set Clouds In My Coffee (1995), was not well organized and left off a lot of key tracks. This double-disc, forty-track ANTHOLOGY had the chance to make amends and while it is an improvement (it is chronologically organized, unlike the box set), there are still key tracks missing at the expense of insignificant efforts.

Simon's '70s Elektra hits like "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be, "Anticipation," "You're So Vain," and "You Belong To Me" dominate the first disc, with some subpar album tracks like the shrill "One More Time," the overly precious "Julie Through The Glass," and the tin pan icky "Older Sister" interspersed. Their spots should have been filled by Simon's haunting single "It Keeps You Running" and the grandiose "Libby" from ANOTHER PASSENGER, the melodic "Tranquillo" from BOYS IN THE TREES, as well as SPY's spunky title track and its dysfunctional ballad "We're So Close" (perhaps Simon's best composition). In 1980, Simon moved to Warner Brothers Records and disc one concludes with her first hit there "Jesse," along with the album's title track COME UPSTAIRS.

Disc two leads off with a few more early '80s Warner Brothers tracks, including the Chic-produced, reggae delight "Why" and the ponderous dud "Orpheus" (which should have been replaced by it's A-side, the hot n' horny "You Know What To Do"). Her one and only album for Columbia, 1985's SPOILED GIRL, is represented here by "Come Back Home" (probably the least offensive song on that horrid album). In 1987, Simon moved to Arista and experienced a career resurgence, much like that experienced by other middle-aged Arista arrivals Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin. The first Arista album COMING AROUND AGAIN was one of Simon's strongest ever and it is well-represented here by its four singles, including the reflective title track and the enchanting "Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of."

At Arista, Simon was allowed to branch out in a lot of directions. She turned to film scoring - quite successfully - including her enclosed Oscar winner "Let The River Run" from WORKING GIRL and the theme for LOVE OF MY LIFE. She also made a nice album of standards, MY ROMANCE, represented here by its lovely title track. I would have liked to see more material from her 90s album HAVE YOU SEEN ME LATELY (only the hit "Better Not Tell Her" is found here - no "Holding Me Tonight") and LETTERS NEVER SENT (just "Like A River" and a live "Touched By The Sun" are enclosed) while I probably could have done without any tracks from FILM NOIR and THE BEDROOM TAPES (which close this collection). The end result is a lot of great recordings surrounded by some mediocre stuff. It's a frustrating listening experience, because the lineup could have been so much better.