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Critic's Review
Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
This compilation is simply misnamed. A best-of Taj Mahal would (or at least should) signify a career spanning collection. These ten tracks are haphazardly collected from Mahal's years with the BMG affiliated Private Music label between 1991 and 1996. This is not to say there isn't fine music here, but some of these versions, such as the opener "Take a Giant Step," come not from the classic Columbia album of the same name, but from Like Never Before, issued in 1991. An additional slight is that none of the cuts here are from the classic Seņor Blues, arguably Mahal's finest late-period album. Fans already have everything of import here, and the uninitiated would do well to look to the Columbia recordings to start.
