Emely Stone

Unbounded: Music by American Women builds on the success of Perspectives, Dawn Wohn’s premiere album that showcased music by women from around the world.

At the peak of their career, Sly & the Family Stone topped the charts with a Greatest Hits album – in 1970, it was their first LP to crack the Billboard Top 200, peaking at number two; an argument could be made that it was the LP that cemented their stardom – and over the years, they've been anthologized many times, almost each compilation worthwhile, but they've never been subjected to a comprehensive box set until Legacy's 2013 four-disc set Higher!…

Anthology essentially replicates the previous collection Greatest Hits and adds singles from There's a Riot Goin' On and Fresh to the end of the album. Where Greatest Hits didn't follow chronological order, Anthology presents every single in the order it was released – and, with the exception of the latter-day singles and the inclusion of "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey," that is the major difference between the two collections…

Before she’s truly freed from the shackles of EMI, Joss Stone must endure one final indignity: that standard end-of-contract ploy, a greatest-hits album, covering her six years with the label. Every one of her 12 singles for the label is here, with the Jamie Hartman duet “Stalemate” – originally released on Ben’s Brother’s 2009 album – added as a concluding track. If this doesn’t dig deep, it nevertheless hits all the highlights – her White Stripes cover “Fell in Love with a Boy,” her Top Ten U.K. hit “You Had Me,” “Don’t Cha Wanna Ride,” her only charting U.S. single “Tell Me 'Bout It,” the Common duet “Tell Me What We’re Gonna Do Now” – drawing a picture of the decade when Stone was always on the cusp of stardom yet never quite truly there. As introductions go, it’s a solid one, capturing her potential and promise, alternating between singles frustrating and fun.

Fresh expands and brightens the slow grooves of There's a Riot Goin' On, turning them, for the most part, into friendly, welcoming rhythms. There are still traces of the narcotic haze of Riot, particularly on the brilliant, crawling inversion of "Que Sera, Sera," yet this never feels like an invitation into a junkie's lair…