Serge Gainsbourg

There are any number of fine Serge Gainsbourg compilations out there, many of them issued in 2007: there is the brilliant film music collection Le Cinema de Serge Gainsbourg: Musique de Films, 1959-1990 and the pop psychedelic years set Le Annees Psychedeliques: 1966-1971, as well as the Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg duets set Jane et Serge. As anthologies go, though, there are only a couple that cover the gamut; there is the more in-depth De Serge Gainsbourg a Gainsbarre triple-disc collection from 1999, and now the double-disc Gold. Here is a fine sampling of everything, and yes, some things are left off, but it's a tough call to sum up this man's wild career in a pair of discs. Given its relatively modest price tag and the sound quality, this is an excellent primer for anyone either getting interested in the madman who became a national hero in France, or simply wanting some of his trademark musical debauchery without getting wrapped up in collecting it all. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide