David Gray - Greatest Hits

iTunes Review

David Gray first entered the singer-songwriter field with songs that quietly and soulfully expressed a wanderlust suggesting great artistic ambitions and achievements. His music reflected a clear debt to Van Morrison’s soul-seeking early work in its musical construction and Gray’s interpretive voicings and concerns. Over three eclectic albums, Gray built a European following and broke through in the U.S with the single “Babylon” from his fourth album, 1999’s excellent White Ladder. This collection focuses on his career from that point onward. (Shine: the Best of the Early Years handles, as it says, his early work.) Never a prolific artist — he takes several years between album, though he has collected a number of b-sides, eps and rarities — Gray has grown more sophisticated over time, his music exuding a confident maturity beyond his busking days. “You’re the World To Me” and “Destroyer” are two new recordings that seamlessly join in with fan favorites such as “This Year’s Love,” “Alibi,” and a live version of “Shine,” as well as “Flame Turns Blue,” an obscure song from his collection of “lost songs.”