This is not for the neophyte John Denver fan. [They would be better served by the recently released 2-disc Portrait or the single disc Greatest Country Hits.] But true fans of the late John Denver will settle for nothing less than this sprawling 4-disc, 79-song box set. And even at that, this is not a complete retrospective, being limited to his 1969 to 1986 tenure at RCA. [So there are no songs from his stint with the Chad Mitchell Trio or anything from the albums he released on his own Windstar label after leaving RCA.] But what you do get shows the breadth and depth of one of America's best singer-songwriters of the past half century.

Of course, you get all the hits--fifteen top forty hits in all, and six of them sold at least a million copies!

Disc-1 covers his first four albums, beginning with the song which gave him his first national exposure as a songwriter--the lovely "Leaving on a Jet Plane" from 1969's Rhymes and Reasons (and covered by Peter, Paul & Mary who take it to No. 1). It wasn't until his fourth album, "Poems, Prayers, and Promises," that he charted with the single "Take Me Home, Country Roads."

Disc-2 essentially covers Denver's peak commercial years (1972-75). "Annie's Song," "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and "Calypso" all went to No. 1. His anthemic "Rocky Mountain High" epitomized the wholesome, down-home qualities of this all-American boy next door. And perhaps it was these same qualities which became his undoing. As the seventies wore on and musical tastes changed, a fickle record-buying public were no longer enthralled with the bespectacled "country boy."

Disc-3 sees the hits charting lower and lower. In fact, Denver's last hit of the seventies, 1977's "My Sweet Lady," was originally the flip side of 1975's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." This is not to say he wasn't still turning out quality music. Listen to the gorgeous "How Can I Leave You Again," or "I Want To Live" or "Autograph" to remind yourself that Denver was still writing beautiful songs.

Disc-4 contains his only two hits from the eighties: the mournful "Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)" and the lovely "Shanghai Breeze." However, the highlight is Denver's duet with Emmylou Harris on "Wild Montana Skies."

Denver amassed a substantial body of work during his seventeen years with RCA. This collection does an excellent job of providing a complete picture of the artistry of John Denver. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

During the seventies, as a youngster, I had mixed emotions about John Denver's hit music. Tentatively, after the tragedy I decided to purchase this 4 c.d. set from BMG Direct - his old record company. After listening to the entire set, I gained tremendous respect for Mr. Denver. I'm now embarrassed that I didn't fully appreciate his talents. In my opinion, 25% of the songs are truly outstanding, 35% are good, 30% are average and 10% are unlistenable.

As such, I decided to puirchase more of Mr. Denver's music. After acquiring various individual albums (remember those things?) and c.d.'s, it became apparent this box set is poorly mixed. The vocals are upfront while the instumental work, especially the guitars, lacks presence. One simply cannot hear the complexity of the musical backing of which incoporates Mr. Denver's own guitar playing. I wonder if anybody else out there has the same impression?

Regardless, this set is a fine introduction To Mr. Denver's music from 1969-1986. Also,his music after this period is worth owning. I wish that BMG would reissue his complete catalogue - MIXED PROPERLY !

If John Denver's original music and his presentation blow you away, then so will this compilation. If you're even remotely entertained by John Denver's artistry, the same goes - - you'll thoroughly enjoy this collection, spanning as it does the earliest years to the late 80s. You might be surprised by the mixes on the earliest songs... Denver re-recorded them for the Greatest Hits album of 1974. The selections blend gently with each other and reflect all the published sides of this artist (whom I personally miss). The hits are here, the secondary efforts are here... even a couple of obscure items are here. Hope you enjoy it as much as I.

this is just about the best there is for anyone who wants as complete picture of johns musical career without buying 10 albums. of course, any consumate fan will have their own songs that they feel have been left off of this excellent collection, or some the collection could have done without (i.e. take out Dearest Esmeralda and Polka Dots and Moonbeams and add other "rarities" like Dancing with the Mountains and To the Wild Country). All in all, this is the best you can get to get a complete picture. Buy and enjoy!

I grew up on John's music, my first song was Rocky Mountain Suite. I have close to a dozen of his albums, all of them phenomenal (Seasons of the Heart, Windsong, It's About Time, Farewell Andromeda and Poems Prayers and Promises being my favorites) but this boxed set had quite a bit of new material for me. I recommend this to anyone who loves John's music or people who maybe haven't yet discovered the wonderful tunes beyond the radio hits (like Country Roads and Rocky Mountain High) John is gone but his music will live on forever through his fans. "Though the singer is silent, there still is the truth of the song" -'On the Wings of a Dream', "It's about time"