Appearing one year after 's box set , and appearing four years after 's first single-disc collection -- which itself appeared after 's excellent double-disc -- 's 2006 collection serves up 20 of the group's basics. Unlike 2002's , makes no attempt to cover anything other than the group's peak period: the first 16 songs cover 1976's through 1980s , with a selection apiece from ( ), ) and ). This makes for a tighter, better listen than , even if it's hard not to feel that might have gone to the well one too many times with this release. After all, as good as this music is, how many times can it be shuffled around on compilations? (And since the skimpy liner notes for this set are cribbed from the box -- there is a letter coding to illustrate each of the albums and which drummers and bassists played on what, but half of the albums with coding aren't represented at all -- this can't help feel a little bit like an afterthought.) Nevertheless, anybody looking for a concise collection of the group's basics will not feel let down by this , which does indeed offer 20 tracks of prime . ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine