The gift of music: Our critics recommend box-set and greatest-hits

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Dec 19, 2003

MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER; "The Essential . . . " (Columbia/Legacy) ** 1/2

These songs, gleaned from Carpenter's earlier albums, date back to 1989, and among them are some of her most passionate offerings -- "Stones in the Road," "Shut Up and Kiss Me," "Almost Home," "I Am a Town," "He Thinks He'll Keep Her," etc. -- making for a nice career overview. Shawn Colvin, Trisha Yearwood and Matt Rollings, among others, also show up. -- Chris Hicks

CARPENTERS; "Carpenters Perform Carpenter" (A&M) **

Just when you thought Richard Carpenter couldn't possibly come up with another way to package the old hits he had with his late sister Karen in the 1970s, he manages to come up with a salute to . . . himself! All 18 of these songs were written or co-written by Carpenter, and it's an OK collection that a die-hard fan might make for himself on a CD burner: "Top of the World," "Mr. Guder," "Yesterday Once More," "Goodbye to Love" -- even "Merry Christmas, Darling" (as a "bonus track"). It's not bad, but enough already. -- C.H.

JIMMY CLIFF; "Jimmy Cliff Anthology" (Hip-O/Island) ****

To really do justice to Cliff, Jamaica's venerated musical star, you'd probably need more than just two discs. Yet this collection -- which culls track from his more than 40 years' of recorded work -- is nearly perfect. Included are his classic hits "Many Rivers to Cross" and "The Harder They Come" and his memorable covers of both "Wild World" and "I Can See Clearly Now." Essential for any reggae fan. -- J.V.

COUNTING CROWS; "Films About Ghosts, the Best of . . ." (Geffen) * 1/2

Whiny. Drab and slow-paced. That describes most of the Counting Crows songs. "Angels of the Silences," "Round Here" and "A Long December" are some of the downers. Even the new song "She Don't Want Nobody Near" doesn't add anything new. The up-tempo "Mr. Jones" and a remake of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" somewhat redeem this album. But when a remake of the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" rears its head, all seems lost. Remakes are good once in a while, if they're done right. -- S.I.

SHERYL CROW; "The Very Best of . . . " (A&M) ** 1/2

The title says it all. Everything from her breakthrough tune "All I Wanna Do" to her country single version of "The First Cut Is the Deepest" are on this 17-song CD. Other Grammy-winners include "There Goes the Neighborhood," "Steve McQueen," "Everyday Is a Winding Road" and "My Favorite Mistake," along with "Picture," her surprisingly emotive duet with Kid Rock. The only complaint is the nerve-wearing "If It Makes You Happy," which, unfortunately, was yet another Grammy winner for Crow back in 1996. -- S.I.

DE LA SOUL; "Timeless: the Singles Collection" (Tommy Boy/Rhino) ** 1/2

When something is called a singles collection, it doesn't necessarily mean all the songs on the album hit the charts. This is true with the De La Soul "Timeless" album. All the songs might have been released as singles, but only a few hit the charts. "Me Myself and I" and "Breakadawn," "Ego Trippin' (Part Two)," "Buddy," "A Roller Skating Jam Names 'Saturdays,' " "Stakes Is High" and "The Bizness" all hit the rhythm and blues charts. But "Jenifa," "Potholes in My Lawn," "Supa Emcees" and "4 More" missed the mark. And that's how this album works. All the popular works were chartworthy, but the rest . . . ho hum. -- S.I.