Marianne Faithfull - The Collection (2005)

Any Marianne Faithfull collection from her Decca years that doesn't include "As Tears Go By" is of special interest, as some listeners have never been convinced of her version's merits, regardless of its chart position. In this case, there are 40 songs here in a distinctly folk and pop/cabaret vein, mastered in state of the art sound, that capture some of Faithfull's best moments on various singles and her LPs, alas not in chronological order -- she became a better, less self-conscious singer as she went on, and the material here, running right up to her 1967 Decca single "Is This What I Get for Loving You," embodies some of her best work, nicely annotated and well mastered, and the price is definitely right as a budget double-CD set.