The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer

There is no dearth of Donna Summer compilations, dating back to 1979's On the Radio (originally a two-LP set, then on one CD) and including 1993's double-CD The Donna Summer Anthology. The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer seems intended to replace and update 1995's single-disc Endless Summer for American consumers. It contains all 14 of the singer's Top Ten pop hits in their short single edits (an important consideration given that Summer was a disco diva whose tracks often went on at considerable length), including 1989's "This Time I Know It's for Real," licensed from Atlantic Records, as well as a selection of four of her many other Hot 100 hits, including 1999's number 79 chart entry "I Will Go With You (Con Te Partiro)," licensed from Epic Records. The main disc concludes with two new songs, "That's the Way" and "Dream-a-Lot's Theme (I Will Live for Love)," produced by Giorgio Moroder, who produced most of Summer's hits of the 1970s and early '80s. The former is a modest pop song, but the latter is an ambitious disco anthem that aims to match the team's former glory, and largely succeeds. It is expanded past nine minutes on the bonus disc of extended remixes, along with a few old favorites and another new one, "You're So Beautiful," a tribal-styled dance track that was added to the album at the last minute, clocking in at nearly 11 minutes. Summer aficionados will be forced to pick the album up for its new material, but more casual fans who already have one of the many earlier Summer best-ofs in their collections don't need to add another one. ~ William Ruhlmann