SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ANNE MURRAY – GREATEST HITS (ANNEVERSARY EDITION)

ANNE MURRAY
GREATEST HITS (ANNEVERSARY EDITION)
UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA

Anne Murray has made a very welcome comeback in 2025. Not only did she release a chart-topping new album this year, Here You Are, but has been (finally!) honoured by the Country Music Association with an all-star performance at Nashville’s historic and iconic Grand Ole Opry House. Now, Universal music is kindly re-releasing some of Murray’s most important and well-loved albums. Her classic album, Greatest Hits, originally released in 1980, has been restored beautifully and is back in record shops where it belongs as an “ANNEversary” remastered edition.

Greatest Hits was the first collection of Murray’s biggest hits, and it was an opportunity for fans to have all of her singles in one place. While she always produced exceptional albums, Greatest Hits was a great compilation of some of her most-loved songs. What is interesting in listening to the album is her progression from the wonderful (and very sad) “Snowbird” (1969, her first hit) and “Danny’s Song” (1972) to her late 1970s hits, such as “You Needed Me.” Her music became more sophisticated without losing any of the warmth. And while she started as more of a country/folk artist, she moved to country pop with ease.

She was never afraid to take much loved songs and make them her own. Her cover of “Daydream Believer” rivals the original hit version by The Monkees, while John Lennon once said that her cover of “You Won’t See Me” was one of his favourite covers of a Beatle song. Praise does not come any higher than that. But it is the songs that were provided to her that are the real treasures on this album. The lovely sentiment in “Can I Have This Dance” and the wonderful “I Just Fall In Love Again.”

Plus, there is that voice. No one has her timbre and tone. Not then and not now. When you hear Anne Murray, you know it is her, right from the beginning. She also had great producers and the best session players in the business. The end result is flawless songs, no matter the genre.

Yes, during the CD era, there were a lot of compilations released of Anne Murray’s hits, but this album, with the iconic cover, is an album that found its way into millions of homes in 1981, it was a top 10 album in Canada and top 20 in the U.S., not bad for her greatest hits. And it is in this configuration that her hits should be presented and heard. Anne Murray’s Greatest Hits is an album of incredible country/pop/folk music that just gets better with time.

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