This handsome, custom-packaged compilation of Brigitte Bardot's hits is a must-have for collectors. The stunning photograph on the front cover of this book-like hardbound slipcase also contains no less than 17 full-color panel-size photographs of the actress and singer at various prime points in her career. The material is the most representative best-of, in that it ranges from her very first single, "La Madrague," and its requisite cheesy rock follow-up, "L'appareil a Sous," to the infamous Serge Gainsbourg-penned "Bonnie & Clyde," "Harley Davidson," and beyond, into the '70s with "La Fille de Paille." Many comparisons have been drawn between Françoise Hardy and Bardot. That is truly unfair to Hardy, who is a real singer. Bardot could not sing and her more savvy producers knew it and exploited that very thing. Mr. Gainsbourg was the best example of this; he took a glamour queen who couldn't sing and used her non-voice to his advantage, drawing both critical ire and acclaim with the same hit singles. Bardot must have known that singing was a lark because of some of the performances here, such as her frighteningly horrific attempt at imitating Astrud Gilberto on "Cest une Bossa Nova." Nonetheless, there are people who love Bardot's "singing." For them, this will serve both as a handsome commemorative package and a righteously representative selection of her pop music career. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi
