David Wilcox - Vanguard Visionaries (2007)

Vanguard Records has launched a series of mid-priced collections of music from artists in the catalog called Vanguard Visionaries, and North Carolina-based singer/songwriter David Wilcox is one of the former Vanguard artists who has had a disc drawn from his work. However, of the dozen albums Wilcox has released as of this writing, only two were recorded for Vanguard, 1999's Underneath and 2000s What You Whispered, and seven of the ten selections on Vanguard Visionaries first appeared on What You Whispered. This raises the question of why one would bother to buy this collection instead of What You Whispered (beyond the fact it's cheaper), or how broad a view this can give to someone interested in Wilcox's body of work. While Vanguard Visionaries does give some sense of what Wilcox does well -- his subtle but emotive vocals, his gifts as a storyteller and his polished studio craft are all on display here -- as an introduction to his work it doesn't even give a balanced view of his two albums for Vanguard, let alone the ten other records he's made between 1987 and 2006. Unfortunately, the only other Wilcox compilation available, The Very Best of David Wilcox, doesn't fare much better, featuring material from his three early albums for A&M, so prospective fans should probably just start with one of his albums and move on from there; this collection is best suited for folks who are trying to decide if they want a copy of What You Whispered. © Mark Deming