Pitchfork

Do you know who I love, and will always love? Call me crappy, but it's Gloria Gaynor. Since my parents came home with a copy of Love Tracks in 1978, and I listened to it on their shitty Emerson stereo, I've been dancing the dance to her disco classics.

First of all, there's no mistaking "I Will Survive" as not only the greatest disco song in history, but also a legendary feminist anthem and just a terrific song in general. Secondly, Gaynor recorded a bunch of other really awesome stuff you've never heard.

Unfortunately, Love Tracks was Gloria's only truly great album; of her eight other albums, there were only maybe ten other songs of any importance (most of which are available on her debut, Never Can Say Goodbye). And only three of those charted in the Top 40. So this Anthology, which documents Gaynor's career-- from her 1974 debut to her final release, 1981's I Kinda Like Me-- is a little disappointing.

The Anthology draws only two songs from Love Tracks: "I Will Survive" and the extended 12" remix of "Anybody Wanna Party?" The rest of the time, you're stuff with the boring stuff. Yeah, there are a few exceptions-- a shakin' disco cover of Burt Bacharach's "Walk On By" is catchier than anything you'll hear on commercial radio these days; "Real Good People" is a mid- summer night's getdown whose funky blue notes have proven to get even the most anti- disco of us out on the dance floor, and all nine minutes of "Most of All" sports the most happenin' couples- only groove this side of James Brown's "Kiss in '77."

Still, this compilation also shows Gaynor at her most abyssmal. The three medleys showcased here are drawn out to extreme lengths, usually lasting around 18 minutes. The dance remix of "I Will Survive" is pointless, as the original is as dancy as one could ever hope it might be, and her rendition of "I've Got You Under My Skin" is dreadful, to say the least. So if you're looking for Gaynor at her most impressive, all you need to do is stop by a thrift store, look through their record bins for a not- so- hard- to- come- by copy of Love Tracks, and drop some of the best 50 cents you've ever spent on an album you'll enjoy for years to come.