Great stuff. Various musical styles, but lyrically pretty melancholy. From "On the Beach,": I need a crowd of people But I can't face them day to day, Though my problems are meaningless That don't make them go away.

Yet again I realize jazz really just isn't my thing. I appreciate the ability and the intelligence. I just don't really LOVE it.

This one plays a huge role in my musical education. First heard in a smoke-filled living room in Scarborough, getting drunk on beer at a teenage party. Of course it was the sort of party where about half a dozen of us sat silently listening to this, like we were in church. I can't be objective about this, at all. The whole thing just transports me to a different place. Sometimes (but not always) it's that smoke-filled living room, with a stubby bottle of Molson Export Ale in my skinny hand.

Pretty sure I bought this one back in 1988. Tracy Chapman was gonna be HUUUUGGGEEE! So what happened? Nice to re-listen to this after so long.