18 Again - An Anthology

iTunes Review

Featuring just one unreleased track (“Keep It to Yourself”) and a demo version of “Magicians” that appeared in grander form on her third album The Sugar Tree, 18 Again collects the “best” cuts from Rigby’s first three solo albums. The difficulty here is that Rigby has never had any actual hits and her songwriting is so consistently good that each of the original albums features plenty of tunes that deserve to be here. In other words, any way you choose, you won’t go wrong. Rigby is that rare songwriter who can run the gamut of human emotions without hitting a false note. She does anger, jealousy, sadness and frustration with equal authority. She can make you laugh with the brazen and obvious joke behind the crushing rock of “Balls,” can give you a sense of being found out on the sharply critical “Cynically Yours” or reveal the justifiable anger of “20 Questions.” Rigby doesn’t shy from her advancing age but she’s also willing to offer advice to the young by setting a less than perfect example (“The Summer of My Wasted Youth”).