The sixteen songs collected here are presented in chronological order from 1977's J.T. through 1997's Hourglass. The good news is that you get his late Seventies hits "Handy Man" (No. 4, 1977), "Your Smiling Face" (No. 20, 1977), "Up on the Roof" (No. 28, 1979) and his final Top 40 hit "Her Town Too" (No. 11, 1981), a duet with J.D. Souther from the album Dad Loves His Work. You also get most of the key album tracks including three from each of his Nineties albums, New Moon Shine and Hourglass.

The bad news? You get only three tracks from his Columbia debut J.T. Okay, maybe that's a personal bias, but it was arguably his best album for Columbia and second only to Sweet Baby James as the best album of his career. It would have been nice to have made room for "Honey Don't Leave L.A.," "Bartender's Blues" or "Traffic Jam." [Did 1985's That's Why I'm Here really need to be represented by four songs? It was not is strongest album, yet it is the most represented on this collection.] The problem was that Taylor's first greatest hits album covered only six years, and Volume 2 tries to cover twenty years with a single disc. When it comes to one of popular music's best singer-songwriters, that's a daunting task. Overall, it succeeds and this will make a welcome addition to your CD collection. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


Get Ready for a Lovely Ride   November 22, 2000
 29 out of 35 found this review helpful

I've been waiting years for JT to put out a greatest hits part 2 ,and everyone else on the planet.All the hits are here,from the remakes that James is famous for,"Up on the Roof,Handy Man,"and"EveryDay."The way James Taylor sings these songs,you swear you've never heard them before.JT's own original songs are all here,"Your Smiling Face," about his new born daughter Sally,one of my all time favorites.To his break up with Carly Simon,"Her Town Too," JT's last top twenty hit.I really enjoyed the live recording of "Shed A Little Light." A Tribute to the late Martin Luther King,and the last number,"Enough To Be On Your Way," from JT's Grammy winning Album,"Hourglass."There's a couple of other songs that I wish were on this collection,like"Millworker,Stand and Fight,B.S.U.R.",but I'm very happy with this CD.It will be a huge hit,like The Eagles,and FleetwoodMac's Greatest hits Record.All I have to say is get ready for a Lovely Ride.


A sequel as essential as its predecessor   November 11, 2000
 21 out of 25 found this review helpful

A good number of artists could have their careers and ranges summed up in one Best Of compilation. James Taylor is one of the exceptions, however: his 11-million-selling Greatest Hits on Warner Brothers featured megahits like "Fire and Rain," "Sweet Baby James," "You've Got a Friend," and "How Sweet It Is," but Volume 2 covers his work with Columbia Records and unveils a lighter, more upbeat, and just as important side of this master singer/songwriter.

The shift in attitude is heard clearest on sunny odes to loved ones -both friends and lovers- such as "That's Why I'm Here," "Little More Time With You," and the timeless classic "Your Smiling Face." There's even a surprising jolt of flat-out rock and roll on the irresistible "(I've Got to) Stop Thinkin Bout That," and he also shows his gift of interpretation is just as strong as his writing skills: covers of "Handyman," "Up on the Roof," and "Everyday" are among his most charming performances. But there are still plenty of mature observations to be had: "Secret O' Life" is one of the wisest takes on life ever heard, the rich imagery of "Never Die Young" makes a recollection of childhood all the more touching, and "Shed a Little Light" offers more astute pleas for social harmony than your average global-conscious pop song. "Enough to Be On Your Way" is a moving farewell to a troubled soul passed on, and the post-breakup classic "Her Town Too" is one of the most gorgeous pieces of melancholy ever recorded.

So what you end up with is another collection of superior songs from one of the most important singer/songwriters in pop history, all sung with Taylor's usual warmth and ease. One line in "Secret O' Life" sums things up well: "try not to try too hard/it's just a lovely ride."


James Taylor's lighter side   May 24, 2002
 21 out of 24 found this review helpful

This second compilation of James Taylor's hits definitely shows that he lightened up after the period represented by the first hits album. This isn't to say that it's a lesser album. However, when you consider that the first greatest hit album had twelve cuts representing six years, and this one has sixteen cuts representing around twenty years, it is obvious that he really mellowed out.

Now, the albums during this latter period had lots of good material on them, but not your typical radio top 40 by a long shot. Songs such as "Secret O' Life", "Handy Man", "Your Smiling Face", the cover of "Up On The Roof", "Her Town Too", "Copperline", "Shed A Little Light", are all good typical Taylor-made hits, and the concluding numbers from "Hourglass" show that he still is able to convey a deeper level than average in pop music.

Basically, this CD is for those who have few if any of his CDs, one to have along with the first "greatest hits" album. On the other hand, if you want only the truly best of this performer, I personally would forget the "greatest hits" duo, and get "Sweet Baby James", "Hourglass", and the 2 disc "Live" set.


Nice Compliment To Volume 1   December 3, 2000
 16 out of 17 found this review helpful

Any major fan of an artist is going to own each of the different CDs from that artist and will not settle for a greatest hits package. Thus I would imagine that some diehard fans won't be impressed with this CD. However, if you just want to catch up on what James Taylor has been doing since he moved from Warner Brothers to Columbia, I highly recommend this CD. Doug Sax and Ted Jensen did really nice jobs in remastering the cuts to sound better than on the original CDs the songs were on. The diehards will want a 6 CD comprehensive Boxed Set with unreleased and other non-hit songs with Warner and Columbia playing nice together-- fat chance. For the folks who normally wouldn't buy just a single album from an artist anyway...this is a great buy!!