Party Doll & Other Favorites - Carpenter, Mary Chapin (CD 1999)

Party Doll is one of the few "greatest hits" records to give an accurate overview of an artist's career. Usually they are just a random collection of an artists highest charting singles, thrown together to fulfill a record contract. This isn't the case with Party Doll, you can tell it was put together with loving care. Not only do you get a sampling of Ms Carpenters greatest hits, but you get a good dose of what her "album filler" is like as well. Many know the many singles she's charted, practically owning the airwaves of country radio in the mid 90's, but few know the sweet, quieter side..

It is only within the past couple of years that I've begun to enjoy Mary Chapin Carpenter. Although I used to detest country music (especially some of that twanging garbage they did in the 70's and before!), I have come to really enjoy the contemporary singers such as Mary, Trisha Yearwood, Alan Jackson. These people can all sing, they have good voices, and the lyrics are more sophisticated than they used to be. Sure, they can get a bit sappy at times but it sure is better than listening to the angry racism spewed out by rappers who have no idea of what music really is! When I purchased this..

"Party Doll and other favorites" came out several months ago. It's a different kind of greatest hits album from the usual navelgazing compilations that most artists issue after a certain number of years. This combines some of Carpenter's best songs along with a couple new ones. She writes in her liner notes that she fervently wanted to "avoid what seemed to be the predictable `greatest hits' package formula: limit the tracklist to the eight or nine best charting singles and then add a new song or two." She certainly succeeded in avoiding the formula and making a great album to boot. I haven't.

If you are a Mary Chapin Carpenter fan, you will probably want to buy this simply to complete your collection. It does have all of her greatest hits and to her credit, she did choose alternate arrangements of some of her lesser known songs (including a the Super Bowl version of "Down at The Twist and Shout" with Beausoleil)and her song from the movie "Fly Away Home". However, there are only a few new songs and only "Almost Home" sounds like a radio-friendly song (and it didn't do that well!) However, there are many other songs that she has recorded or performed over the years that should have.