"The Years" of and were the years 1975 and 1976, when the two, best known for their association with and, sometimes, , were performing as a duo and had left , which issued the recordings they made with those partners, for , a label later subsumed within , the imprint under which this compilation has been issued. released three albums with : 1975's gold-selling, Top Ten , featuring the chart entry ; 1976's gold-selling ; and 1977's . By the time that last, contractually obligated, album came out, they had rejoined to reform . But this brief, productive period was arguably their most impressive, alone or in tandem, outside the more popular trio/quartet. Fronting a highly regarded and high-priced Los Angeles session band sometimes called (drummer , bassist , guitarist , et al.) and best known for backing , turned out a series of his characteristic -tinged tunes with self-reflective lyrics, while performed songs on personal and political topics. Annotator recalls that such efforts as directed anger at the absent , though the lyrics are too vague and metaphorical for the layman to parse, especially a quarter-century later. But remains a feeling statement on the slaughter of whales. Compiler has made a reasonable reduction of the two studio albums, adding four familiar tunes from the live disc, for this 78-minute collection. 1978's , also including material, was more complete, but this album lives up to its title. ~ William Ruhlmann