Carly Simon

Carly Simon had come a huge way in her recording career when she released Coming Around Again in 1987. Having already released 12 studio albums to commercial acclaim, the then 41 year old hadn't managed to chart an album in the UK since her fourth studio album, Hotcakes, in 1974. However, headed up by the Grammy Award nominated single Itsy Bitsy Spider, from the film Heartburn, she was rewarded by a return to the UK charts, when the album peaked at #25. Thirty years later the album has been revisited for a deluxe edition, which includes a second disc featuring the Coming Around Again Concert at Martha's Vineyard in June 1987. But the real question is whether the album by the artist best known for You're So Vain has stood the test of time.

The beauty of Carly Simon's artistry was that is was already timeless upon release. Not an artist to chase trends or fight for chart domination, her releases have always drawn heavily from her personal life experiences and related those to her listener. It is in this personal connection that Coming Around Again still connects.

Although the album spawned three singles (Give Me All Night, The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of and All I Want Is You), it works much better as a body whole than individual songs. With the album's lighter-in-the-air moments It Should Have Been Me and Do The Walls Come Down as the shining moments, this is an album that is definitely worth re-exploration.

That being said, the really selling point of the 30th anniversary edition is the second disc. Featuring Carly Simon classics Anticipation, The Right Thing To Do and of course You're So Vain, the concert shows just how flawless and compelling the performer really is. The concert alone makes the package price worth paying.