Greatest Hits, Vol. 2

1	Secret O' Life 3:35
2	Handy Man 3:18
3	Your Smiling Face 2:46
4	Up on the Roof 4:22
5	Her Town Too 4:35
6	That's Why I'm Here / J. Taylor 3:39
7	Only a Dream in Rio 5:02
8	Everyday 3:17
9	Song for You Far Away 2:58
10	Never Die Young 4:25
11	(I've Got to) Stop Thinkin' 'Bout That 4:02
12	Copperline 4:23
13	Shed a Little Light 4:20
14	Another Day 2:23
15	Little More Time With You 3:52
16	Enough to Be on Your Way 5:27

Barnes & Noble

Taylor’s status as a genial icon of ‘70s singer-songwriter sensitivity tends to overshadow the fact that he’s a melodically distinctive, emotionally complex songwriter and a subtly eloquent performer who’d probably be a hip left-field cult icon if he hadn’t achieved massive commercial success early in his career. This 16-song collection picks up where 1976’s Greatest Hits left off, i.e., it covers his two-decades-plus association with Columbia Records, beginning with 1977’s J.T.. The collection performs the useful service of compiling some of the artist’s most interesting, and sometimes overlooked, work. The more familiar tunes here include the buoyantly upbeat “Your Smiling Face,” the evocative, painterly “Copperline,” and the subtle yet profound “Secret o’ Life,” an insightful ode to acceptance that stakes out the artist’s compassionate take on survival and the aging process. The gorgeous “Her Town Too” is one of Taylor’s most moving achievements, with lyrics that poignantly address the aftermath of a divorce while Taylor’s and J. D. Souther’s heartbreaking vocal interplay drives home the point. Taylor’s facility with cover material is represented here by his renditions of Jimmy Jones’s “Handy Man,” Buddy Holly’s “Everyday,” and, especially, his sensitive reading of The Drifters’ “Up on the Roof,” which reworks that R&B classic into an affecting hymn of escape and transcendence. Scott Schinder

All Music Guide

James Taylor's first Greatest Hits album, released in 1976 and consisting of his well-known early '70s recordings on Warner Bros. and re-recordings of some of the songs from his 1968 Apple Records debut, is in the rarefied sales category of double-digit millions, so a second volume, taking in his tenure at Columbia Records, was a no-brainer. The only wonder is why it took so long. But the second part of Taylor's recording career has been different from his first, especially when it comes to hits. All of Taylor's Columbia albums have been good sellers, hitting gold or platinum sales. But he has scored only four Top 40 hits on the pop charts: "Handy Man" (his only Top Ten single on Columbia), "Your Smiling Face," "Up on the Roof," and "Her Town Too." It's a different story on the adult contemporary charts, where he has been a mainstay. But Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 is not so much a collection of Taylor's chart entries as it is a best-of. There are several tracks, among them "Secret O' Life," "Only a Dream in Rio," and "Song for You Far Away," that were never hits but have become audience favorites, frequently played in Taylor's concerts. And there are chart singles, notably "Only One," which got into the adult contemporary Top Ten, and "Hard Times" and "Honey Don't Leave L.A.," which made the pop charts, that have been omitted. That said, this is a well-balanced compilation that should please most of the singer/songwriter's fans and that serves as a good selection of his work, circa 1977-1997. William Ruhlmann