AMG Review of From a Distance: The Very Best of Nanci Griffith

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

MCA Nashville's 2002 release From a Distance: The Very Best of Nanci Griffith is a 22-track collection that covers the singer/songwriter's popular -- and arguably creative -- peak at MCA Records during the late '80s and early '90s. During this time she released five albums, each getting ample space on this collection. Since it concentrates just on MCA tracks, the four songs from her early records on Philo -- "Once in a Very Blue Moon," "Lookin' for the Time (Workin' Girl)," "Love at the Five and Dime," and "The Wing and the Wheel" -- are all live versions, cut during her time at MCA, but they're all good renditions, and they help make this a nice summary of Griffith's '80s peak.