Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology (Clamshell Box) ［6CD+DVD］

As a solo artist and a collaborator, Andrew Gold defined a strand of mainstream pop during the late 1970s. His work with Linda Ronstadt -- he led her band and arranged her blockbuster albums of the mid-70s -- catapulted him to a position where he was given the chance to score his own hits, which he did with 1977s Lonely Boy and 1978s Thank You for Being a Friend, not to mention Never Let Her Slip Away, which was a U.K. smash in 78. Gold stepped away from this solo career after 1980s Whirlwind, re-emerging in the late 1990s when he was acknowledged as the cult figure he is. His following is built upon those records he made for Asylum in the late 1970s, which are contained in their entirety along with outtakes, rarities, and live material on Cherry Reds 2020 box set Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology. Back in the 2000s, Collectors Choice Music released expanded versions of Andrew Gold, Whats Wrong With This Picture?, All This and Heaven Too, and Whirlwind, so some of the bonus material will be familiar to hardcore fans, but the structure of the box helps make a case for Golds gifts. Each of the albums is heard relatively unadorned (one live cut is tacked onto both the eponymous LP and All This), so his exquisite studio skills can be appreciated, then the collection of outtakes and demos reveal how much work it took to make him sound so effortless. The live disc, which is split between material recorded in London in 1976 and Los Angeles in 1977, and the DVD containing an Old Grey Whistle Test performance from 1977 demonstrate that Gold could also put on a show and rock pretty hard while doing it. When these parts are taken as a whole, the box makes a pretty convincing case for Golds versatility and pop smarts, which is why its worthwhile listening for more than the converted. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine