Tracy Chapman - Collection

Import only collection spanning all five albums the acclaimed singer/songwriter's produced in her first 12 years. 16 tracks including 'Fast Car', 'Crossroads', 'Telling Stories' & 'Give Me One Reason'. Album Description

Was so excited

I ordered the Tracy Chapman Collection album. I was so excited when my order arrived. However, as soon as I played it my excitment died. The whole CD is full of static. I thought perhaps it was my CD player so I tried it on a couple different ones all with the same result. I had seen this mentioned in some other reviews and had hoped the problem would have been corrected by the time I made my purchase. Wrong. I'm sure Ms. Chapman would be upset to know that the reputation she has for the caliber of work she puts out has been sullied by this shoddy product.
And Amazon: you should be ashamed. April 11, 2008

She's Got a Ticket

My listening to Chapman goes back to the time of vinyls, and if that makes me seem impossibly old, it's ok, the music was great then and enjoy it as much now. I can still remember listening to her first album in my friend's living room, picking out lyrics together.
This CD works well in that it pulls songs from different periods and moods, associated with different times in Chapman's career, and more importantly in the listeners' personal lives. The music sparks memories of dreams one held, ideals aspired to, people, experiences, even TV programmes watched and books read.
The themes running through the colllection- such as the quest for personal liberation ('She's got a ticket, I think she's gonna use it', Fast Car), personal integrity (Soul), love and the loss of it (The Promise)- can't not touch the introspective listener. The subtlety of Chapman's lyrics is also evident here: the line 'If you can make a promise, if it's one that you can keep, I vow to come for you' in The Promise evidences this clearly. Life is never straightforward for Chapman, or indeed for any of us. Things always depend on such a wide variety of factors. This is further recognised in All That You Have Is Your Soul, such a powerful song about how women often 'sell out' to expectatations of those around them, rather than doing that which they truly believe in, 'Don't be tempted by the shiny apple, don't you eat of a bitter fruit'. Even though Chapman's interpretation of the shiny apple may be completely different to any other listener, the principle remains. It reminds and inspires me to use my 'ticket', whenever I slip too far back into the old comfort zone.

A super collection, I thoroughly enjoy listening to it. April 7, 2008

No cd quality issues to speak of....

I just bought this having never seen or heard of it before and upon listening decided to pull up some reviews on amazon. I have grown up with Tracy for many years as my dad had the first album back when I was a young lad. I was going to pick up her 1st album when I saw this. I agree with other reviews in that For My Lover should have been included on this. I am a bit confused by the sound issues as this cd was an import from the UK but made in germany. Perhaps some of you got the cd that was made in argentina? I saw one of those in the used section of newbury comics today and took no chances going with the new UK import version. My dad who is a complete stereophile swears cd's from the UK sound better than those made in the US. I am listening on my home stereo complete with JM Lab speakers and Naim CD player and receiver. Sounds great to me so far! March 1, 2008

From the soul

I've listened to Tracy since 1992 and to this compilation album for the last three years. There isn't a song I don't like here; however, this isn't an album I listen to daily or even weekly. To me Tracy Chapman's music, and my appreciation of it, has a lot to do with my mood. Her songs lend themselves to a mood of solemnity and solitude. Her sometimes heavy but always heartfelt and genuine lyrics are not to be taken lightly. The social contexts of many of her songs don't lend themselves to generally light-hearted, "fluff" music listening.

This album is great listening when lying in the dark in a state of personal ponderance or driving the back roads of a rural countryside while perusing personal relationships. Any Tracy Chapman fan, or any fan of serious music in general, should own this album. January 29, 2008

Tracy Chapman - Collection

Extremely disappointed in this CD. The lineup of tunes looked very impressive, but quality of sound was poor to say the least. There was "buzzing" and static on the first 4 tracks that finally forced us to stop the CD. This will make me think twice about purchasing an import CD again. December 3, 2007

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