Rory Gallagher Big Guns: The Very Best Of (2cd, 2005) [re Up]

Comprised of 18 tracks culled from the singer/composer’s first three decades, The Very Best of Enya was pieced together by the artist herself, along with longtime collaborators Nicky and Roma Ryan. Luckily, the trio seems enamored by most of the same songs that the general public is, resulting in one of those rare “greatest-hits” collections that goes deep without depriving the listener of the essentials. With tunes like "Orinoco Flow," "Caribbean Blue," and "Book of Days" in the pot and out of the way, it’s easier to appreciate hidden gems like "Cursum Perficio," "Boadicea," "Trains and Winter Rains," and "Anywhere Is"…

The Very Best of… Slade effectively renders every past Slade hits collection redundant, as remastered sound and a sharp eye for all the band's U.K. chart entries serve up a peerless examination of what remains one of British rock's most flawless careers. No matter that the hits went so badly off the boil around 1975-1976 – still, three-quarters of disc one is nonstop solid gold and the remainder of the set isn't far behind, as Slade's mid-'80s renaissance delivers further smashes "My Oh My" and "Run Run Away." Which would be hits enough for anybody, but the fun doesn't end there. A bonus second disc then digs into the darker recesses of the Top 75 to pull out the band's lesser successes, a mixed bag that runs from "All Join Hands" to "Ruby Red," the 1980 live version of "Born to Be Wild," "Gypsy Roadhog," "C'Est la Vie," and more. It's not a complete guide to Slade on 45 (there's no "Give Us a Goal," for a start), but it comes close enough.

Rosanna: The Very Best of Toto is a strange, hastily assembled, budget-priced box set that boasts three discs and 41 tracks, yet somehow manages to omit "Africa," which alongside "Rosanna" and "Hold the Line," ranks as one of the band's most recognizable hits. Kudos for including the excellent and underrated "Take My Hand" from the Dune soundtrack, though. Listeners would be much better off with 2009's ample Africa: The Best of Toto or its streamlined cousin Playlist: The Very Best of Toto.

The Very Best of Julie London offers an extensive overview of London's recording career with 50 selections she cut for Liberty Records between 1955 and 1969. The tracks are not newly remastered for the most part, but are taken from EMI's series of import two-fers and the domestic reissues Ron Furmanek and Bob Norberg produced in the early '90s. London was an album artist, not a singles artist - she had only one hit single in her long career - but she was a consistent favorite with adult contemporary and vocal jazz audiences and recorded over 20 LPs. Her albums often sustained a certain mood or assembled songs around a theme, but The Very Best of Julie London chops up her albums and rearranges the songs in no particular order - the repertoire and sequencing seem almost random…