Aimee Mann - Ultimate Collection (2000)

Evidently this album was not released without a little controversy. Excerpts from a statement by Ms. Mann herself:

I want to give everyone a heads-up about this CD, because it was not only something that I had nothing to do with, it's a product I consider to be seriously substandard and misleading. My manager Michael Hausman and I heard that this project was in the works several months ago. In our opinion the label putting out the record, Hip-O Records, had no right to use the material they were intending to use in the first place... As typical as this is in the music business, it still never ceases to amaze me.

And the very title--"The Ultimate Collection"--implies at the very least a comprehensive collection, when it doesn't contain anything from Bachelor No. 2 and only one song from Magnolia (and not the Oscar-nominated song), and yet it DOES contain several things I personally consider to be absolute crap, including a rough mix of one song from just one of two reels of tracks, a song recorded live off the radio 10 years ago and never authorized by me to be recorded at all, much less released, a song I recorded for a movie as a favor to a producer friend that I didn't even write, etc. None of the great little B-sides or demos that I was actually proud of and thought would be perfect for this kind of collection.

So I would ask everyone to please give this one a miss-- I hate to see fans being subjected to this kind of music industry bait-and-switch. Needless to say, there's also a lawsuit in the works. To put out a record that deliberately gives the impression that it's been authorized by me is really the last straw.

Mann sued for $8 million dollars and the case was settled out of court. The CD is now out of print.

Ummm, does that mean I can't like it? Because its full of really good, well-crafted pop songs. Granted, I would have been better off buying the two discs from which most of the songs were culled (1993's Whatever and 1995's I'm With Stupid), but I didn't, so here we are. (Note to self: buy any Aimee Mann CDs you see when thumbing through used CD bins)

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart:  Did not chart

Tracks:  For the most part, I'm not disappointed when one of these tracks shuffles around on iTunes. My favorites are That's Just What You Are,the waltzes of You Could Make A Killing and Amateur, and one of my favorite 80s tunes, Voice Carry. The B-sides should probably been left on B-sides.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None