This terrific 17-track anthology is built around these country rockers' classic 1972 album Bustin' Out ; all but one track from that Top 40 LP are here with the non-album single She Darked the Sun plus Amie; Two Lane Highway; That'll Be the Day; Angel #9; Goin' Home , and more.

The Pure Prairie League never repeated the phenomenal success of their love song, "Amie," but that never stopped legions of the adoring from religiously following the band. The Best of the Pure Prairie League is a good introduction to latecomers, as well as a sort of "pocket guide" for the faithful--an easy way to carry around the songs that are favorites without being weighed down by a bunch of jewel boxes. While others in their era were putting the emphasis on "rock" in the tag "Southern rock," Pure Prairie League chose to keep it as a driving element, but also mixed in a fair amount of bluegrass, country, and Southern boogie. "Two Lane Highway" and "I'll Be Damned" were always live faves and lose none of their appeal here. The tenderness that was stitched into "Amie" is worn on the band's collective sleeves in "Still Right Here in My Heart." --Steve Gdula