Carly Simon

If you only care about the first five years of the toothy tigress's career, then this is the album for you. Great songs abound: "You're So Vain," "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," "Anticipation," and other 1970s staples. The brilliant Bond theme, "Nobody Does It Better," however, is not included.

Given her self-knowledge and her fans' taste (they like her, right?), a compilation isn't going to get her at her best, though this does collect some of her more attractive melodies. Light a fart for the two big Jacob Brackman statements: "Attitude Dancing," which means exactly what it says, and "Haven't Got Time for the Pain," which doesn't, not quite--the most insidious let's-write-God-a-love-song to date. (Grade - C+)