Diamonds Are Forever

This may be one of the most complete compilations ever issued on Shirley Bassey, but it's also one of the kookiest. Here are 48 tracks ranging over 16 years, from 1959 and her earliest attempts at rock & roll singing to her showstopping power singing in 1975 with the title track. No complaints here; virtually every song you could ever associate with Bassey is collected here, as well as a number of surprises that you wouldn't necessarily, such as "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "On a Wonderful Day Like Today," for example. But the arrangement of the material here is truly confounding: disc one begins in the 1970s and disc three in the early '60s, with material from the late '50s wedged stealthily in the middle of disc two. And while the compilers must have believed there is a fine aesthetic reason for putting this massive compilation together this way, it is hard to figure out. The sound on these tracks is remastered and therefore even the older stuff sounds great; the presentation is a little generic -- other than titles, songwriting credit, and the year of release, there is absolutely no information given -- but the price is right, with a triple package selling for just under two CDs. For Bassey fans, this will prove a great set of hits to pop on the box; for the uninitiated, this may be a bit intimidating to handle all at once. Nonetheless, the quality of what is here cannot be denied or even trifled with. This is still a finer compilation than any that has been released in the United States. ~ Thom Jurek