The Very Best of Jackson Browne, the 2-disc CD set released on March 16, 2004, has been a long time coming.  Browne fans have been waiting for this one for far too long, and boy, was it worth the wait.  This Very Best of... set is nigh on perfect, and lives up to its title.  Produced by Browne himself, all tracks are remastered and remixed and sound eons better than the originals.  Disc One contains all of his stuff from the 1970s (his most popular period), while Disc Two starts with the end of the 70s and carries us on through the 80s and 90s, ending with a couple of cuts from his last CD, The Naked Ride Home (2002), considered by many his best work in years.

Browne is an original SoCal soft rocker, that hung out with The Eagles, Warren Zevon, James Taylor, and J. D. Souther, to name just a few.  His studio/touring band(s) often included the likes of Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Greg Ladanyi, David Linley, and Waddy Wachtel (most of whom also worked with James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt).  The amazing sound of his earlier stuff on Disc One is a revelation...nobody thought better masters or mixes existed it had been so long.  Disc One will curl your toes, it sounds quite good!  Disc Two contains later songs, and the difference in sound quality is not quite so pronounced.  Jackson Browne has been a master singer/songwriter and major talent for more than 30 years.  If you love him, you gotta have this.  If you wanna get turned on to some truly great music, pick it up.  You will not be disappointed.

Disc One - 5 Stars

Disc Two - 4 Stars