Basically, this
Grace Jones entry in the
Millennium Collection series is a one-disc version of
Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions with "La Vie en Rose" added as representation of her early disco years. The Compass Point years were great, with
Sly & Robbie providing the groovy reggae backbeat and
Jones supplying the European iciness. The cosmopolitan and paranoid versions of
Roxy Music's "Love Is the Drug,"
the Normal's "Warm Leatherette," and
the Pretenders' "Private Life" are all excellent. Although the collection somehow leaves off her signature tune, "Slave to the Rhythm," the tunes written by
Grace and friends are just as good, especially the widely sampled "My Jamaican Guy." If the compilers had included the few good singles from
Jones' post-Island period it would have made the collection all the more valuable, but there's still a lot of great music here. ~ David Jeffries