Every Moment: The Best of Joy Williams

Sounds like … Rachael Lampa and Jaci Velasquez, with a five-year career that spans the gamut of programmed pop similar to Jessica Simpson or Mandy Moore and the contemporary pop/rock of Vanessa Carlton or Kelly ClarksonAt a glance … while this skimpy best-of collection is generally satisfactory, it provides little more than the bare essentials for the casual fan, with just a couple tracks that Joy Williams' devotees would be interested inTrack Listing Any More Sure Hide We Every Moment By Surprise Serious Surrender I Believe in You Here With Us Say Goodbye

It's been little more than five years since the 2001 release of her self-titled debut, but Joy Williams is at a point where she wants to put her music career on hold to take time off indefinitely. So it's perfectly understandable why Reunion Records would want to release a seemingly premature compilation like Every Moment: The Best of Joy Williams, but the real question is whether or not it truly provides offers enough for fans, diehard or casual.

There isn't a song here that doesn't belong in providing an overview of Williams' fine track record, though with only three albums to draw from, this ten-track compilation is strictly bare bones. As you'd expect, all three No. 1 hits are included—the breakthrough "Every Moment" taken from 2002's By Surprise, and "Hide" and "We" off of 2005's Genesis. There's also her first single, the power ballad "I Believe in You," as well as the programmed teen-pop follow-up "Serious." But those two account for her debut, and the two subsequent albums are each represented by three tracks.

That leaves two other songs to fill the project and entice consumers. Kudos for remembering the stunning Christmas anthem "Here With Us" off 2005's O Come Let Us Adore Him, though it would have been thoughtful to also include the out of print "2,000 Decembers Ago" from A Christmas Reunion. A good cover of Kelly Minter's roots rocking "Any More Sure" serves as the collection's "new" track, even though the song dates back to the same year Williams started.

Thus Every Moment admittedly works as a generally satisfactory compilation for the casual fan while providing a couple nuggets for the faithful devotees, but it remains skimpy at best—even the cover image comes from the previous album's photo shoot. One can always hope Joy Williams will someday return to a promising career that would generate a more fruitful and worthwhile best-of album.