Anthology (Dig)

Carly Simon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 5, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B00006LHXC
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,050 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

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

2. One More Time

3. Anticipation

4. Legend in Your Own Time

5. Julie Through the Glass

6. You're So Vain

7. We Have No Secrets

8. The Right Thing to Do

9. Mockingbird

10. Haven't Got Time for the Pain

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Not a Day Goes By

2. Why

3. It Happens Everyday

4. Orpheus

5. Come Back Home

6. Coming Around Again

7. Give Me All Night [Single Version]

8. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

9. All I Want Is You

10. Let the River Run

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Inevitably described as leggy or toothy, Carly Simon emerged in the early '70s as a kind of finishing-school sex symbol. She's the daughter of publisher Richard Simon, as in Simon and Schuster, and her very personal early songs were informed with a familiarity and uneasiness with the trappings of wealth and prominence. The finely detailed "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" best captures the young Simon. At a time when her counterculture peers were singing about buildings going up in flames, 26-year-old Carly focused on the glow from her brooding father's cigarette as she slipped by his study. "That's the Way" was the first of a string of top-10 hits Simon produced through the '70s and into the '80s. Anthology includes the lot of them--from "Anticipation" through "You're So Vain" past "Let the River Run" (better known as the theme from Working Girl). Far surpassing the 10-song Elektra retrospective, The Best of Carly Simon, this two-disc, 40-song collection spans three decades in the career of an artist who clearly believes that confession is good for the soul. --Steven Stolder

Product Description

Packs a pair of CDs with 40 tracks released by Elektra, Warner Bros., Mirage, Epic and Artista from 1970-1994. Features the hit singles 'That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be,' 'Anticipation,' 'You're So Vain' (with Mick Jagger on backing vocals), 'Haven't Got Time For The Pain,' 'Mockingbird' (duet with James Taylor), 'Nobody Does It Better,' 'Jesse,' 'Coming Around Again' and 'Let The River Run.' All in deluxe gatefold digipack along with a separate 40-page booklet. Elektra. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Collection Of Carly Simon's Greatest Hits!, July 28, 2004

By 

Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anthology (Dig) (Audio CD)

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!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's the superior sound quality, February 7, 2003

By 

Jacob Whatley "jake_iw" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anthology (Dig) (Audio CD)

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely Satisfied, January 16, 2003

By 

SLS "ssevr" (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anthology (Dig) (Audio CD)

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.