If you live in Uruguay, there are albums that are impossible to get your hands on. And I am not talking about obscure artists – it is even difficult to find the regular studio albums that artists of the caliber of The Who or Stevie Wonder released. That speaks for itself, and it does so in a voice I’d rather not hear.

What you can find, however, are compilation albums for artists whose individual records can not be purchased no matter how good or relevant they are.

Also, you must understand that specialized stores do not exist in this country. There are no stores devoted solely to blues, or country, or punk. There do exist several retailers that sell nothing but heavy and death metal albums and merchandise, but that is another story altogether.

Such a situation deprives you from enjoying some significant works in the way the artist originally intended, and it violates the thematic unity that often characterizes the best albums you can find. I think we will all agree that compilations are good just in order to arrive at some sort of general conclusion. When I listen to a “Best Of” album I always ask myself the same question – “do I feel like digging deeper into this band?”

That is the way I am going to approach these reviews. They will not carry a rating at the end, but rather an answer to that question. They might be shorter than my regular album reviews sometimes, too.

Something important that I want to request – I am sure that in your country you have access to music I can not find where I live. As such, you might have listened to the entire oeuvre of artists whose compilations I am reviewing here. Please make a point of commenting and adding your insight for the benefit of everybody, and for me to have more information to weigh up and consider.