This budget 2-CD compilation from Australia is an almost perfect overview of Cyndi Lauper's career, and features practically every hit single, plus some album cuts you may not have thought about before.

The Pros:

1. The sound mastering seems pretty good to my amateur ears. Not sure what audiophiles would think, but I didn't really notice any issues.

2. A generous helping of 36 tracks. Disc 1 contains most of the hits. Every track from the US issue of

is here, and many more. This collection covers Cyndi's career from

to

.

3. A few rarities are found here too - namely The World Is Stone, Hole In My Heart, and The Goonies 'R' Good Enough.

The Cons:

1. I think a few more tracks could have fit onto this collection - namely the singles "Ballad Of Cleo And Joe," "Disco Inferno," "Into The Nightlife," "At Last," "Shine," and maybe one of the tracks from

, which would have truly made this a career-spanning retrospective, not to mention providing an additional rarity, since as far as I know, "Disco Inferno" has only been available on

and the soundtrack to

. This collection was released in 2009, but doesn't go past 1997, ignoring three (four if you count the Japanese release of

) studio albums between 1997 and 2009.

2. The insert contains no information on the songs whatsoever, and the biography isn't that well-written. Very minor quibble, this is a compilation from Sony's budget label, but I've definitely seen budget releases go the extra mile for their inserts.

3. This could be either a pro or a con, depending on how you look at it. Two almost-complete albums are included. "911" and "One Track Mind" are the only songs from

that aren't on here, and almost the entire

album is presented in sequence on disc 2, with the exception of the intro, title track, "Insecurious," and "I Drove All Night," the latter of which is on disc 1. While these songs are all fantastic, these albums are still readily available - do we need two near complete albums taking up space that could have been filled by more singles and a few more rarities?

If you want a great overview of Cyndi's career, you'll be hard-pressed to find anything much better. Despite the fact that it ignores anything she did after 1997 and contains two almost-complete albums that are readily available, as opposed to making more room for singles and rarities, this collection still outdoes The Essential by a mile by giving you everything from that collection and more.

Unlike the disappointing, 14-track "Essential", this includes all Cyndi's chart hits plus later ignored-by-radio songs like "That's What I Think". The songs I was glad to see here/missing from Essential are "What's Going On", "Boy Blue", "Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)", and "My First Night Without You" as well as "That's What I Think". Liner notes consist of only one CD page but at least all the key songs are here in one place.

My husband loved Cyndi and I watched her show and got hooked. Her music is GREAT! I love her voice!!!!

This double CD album was released exclusively in Australia and is, unfortunately, not readily available in the US. It's a shame, as this collection is far superior to that hot mess of a compilation known as "The Essential Cyndi Lauper".

I'd 'almost' say that this album replaces "Twelve Deadly Cyns" except 'Come On Home' and the 'Hey Now' version of 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' are not included. No big loss! However, 'I'm Gonna Be Strong' didn't make the cut, either! That was disappointing! But in all fairness, the song was a Blue Angel single, prior to Cyndi's solo career. Any true Cyndi fan should have a copy of "Twelve Deadly Cyns" in their record collection anyway!

There's not much else to be said about this one. If you can find a copy of "True Colours The Best Of", GET IT! You will not be disappointed!

This a great collection which of course showcases her voice. I got this CD for Hole in my Heart(that goes all the way to China) and Goonies are good enough. I quite happy with Hole in my Heart but maybe I was thinking of the singles version of goonies are good enough. It doesn't sound as good to me as I remember.