Essential

In the nomenclature of music compilations, the word "essential" (as opposed to "best of" or "greatest hits") has come to connote an album in which some degree of editorial judgment has been exercised, such that key album tracks may be substituted for hit singles here and there in the name of presenting an artist's strengths and not just the most popular recordings. So it is with this selection of the "essential" works of Roxy Music (a band that has had its share of best-ofs and greatest-hits albums), as represented by a 16-track, 67-and-a-half-minute disc. The group's ten-year existence may be divided into its early years (1972-1976) and its later ones (1979-1982), with the first part containing somewhat more experimental and harder rocking music, and the second part featuring smoother-sounding dance-pop. The compiler here seems to prefer the first half, such that an LP track like the six-and-a-half-minute "If There Is Something," for example, trumps later U.K. Top Five singles such as "Over You" and "More Than This," which are missing. Roxy Music's sole British chart-topper, a cover of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy," meanwhile, is represented by a live recording. Most of the band's big hits are featured, but the album is best recommended to the neophyte who wants to get an overall sense of what Roxy Music were all about, not a fan who wants the group's most popular tracks on a single CD. ~ William Ruhlmann|