Complete MCA
Studio Recordings

Albums

78 Light Beyond
82 Poet
84 Blue Moon
86 Believers
87 Lone Star
88 Little Love
88 Summer Eve
89 Storms
91 Grand Hotel
93 Best (UK)
93 MCA Years
93 Other Voices
94 Flyer
97 Blue Roses
97 Country Gold
98 Other Voices2
99 Dust Bowl
99 Revisited
00 Wings To Fly
01 Clock
01 Millenium
02 Distance
02 Marquee
03 MCA Studio
05 Hearts

Disc 1

Disc 2

David A. Bede wrote:

There's something a bit frustrating about the MCA portion of Nanci Griffith's career. She has a couple of five-star albums to her credit dating to before and after the period covered here, but none from during the MCA era. All four of the albums collected here have some wonderful songs and a few forgettable ones. The good news, though, is that none of the songs are actually bad. Besides, with four albums for less than the price of two, a few weak links are perfectly acceptable.

If any of those four is missing from your collection (and especially if you only have a greatest-hits CD), this is worth picking up. All four of the MCA albums featured at least one great song that hasn't turned up on any of her live albums or compilations. "Lone Star State of Mind," "Never Mind," "Love Wore A Halo," "San Diego Serenade," and "You Made This Love A Teardrop" have all aged just as well as concert staples like "Gulf Coast Highway" or "I Wish It Would Rain".

For the completists, there are three previously unreleased (or nearly-unreleased) songs here. Of these, the bouncy "Tumble and Fall" is definitely a keeper, and "Stand Your Ground" is also pretty good. The third, a cover of "Wooden Heart," is just about identical to every other version of that song I've ever heard, so if you liked those, you'll like her version too.