Personnel include: Mandy Moore (vocals); John Fields (guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, background vocals); Sheppard (guitar, bass guitar); Tony Battaglia, Robert Bailey (guitar); Keith Thomas (acoustic guitar, synthesizer, programming); Jerry McPherson (electric guitar); Tommy Barbarella (piano, keyboards); Shaun Fisher (bass guitar, programming); Noah Levy (drums); Dave Katz (programming); Matt Mahaffey (turntables). <p>Recording information: 1999 - 2003. <p>At the age of 20, Mandy Moore had only one major hit, (2000's "I Wanna Be with You"), not exactly the usual resume for a greatest-hits album; however, Moore is hardly your typical teen-pop idol. She followed her initial smart, flashy, and lavishly produced records with the covers album COVERAGE, where she revealed a musical appreciation beyond her years (XTC, John Hiatt, Todd Rundgren). THE BEST OF MANDY MOORE wisely features four tracks from that outing, including her dizzyingly fun reworking of XTC's "Senses Working Overtime," along with the best songs from previous records and soundtracks. <p>While early tracks ("Candy," "Crush") play off of simple themes, they are well crafted and perfectly suited for Moore's appealing voice. Though she's not a songwriter, Moore knows her way around a good tune, a fact that COVERAGE punctuated with a bold exclamation point. One of the hidden joys of this compilation is hearing Moore progress musically (a growth matched in her movie career, where she turned heads in the biting 2004 satire SAVED!). The two newest songs here run the gamut from the gentle melody of "Top of the World" (from STUART LITTLE 2) to the Broadway pomp of "Secret Love" (from MONA LISA SMILE). Moore's BEST OF serves as both a fun pop collection and a way to pique interest in the next chapter of her career.