Best of
Blessed by an impeccable showbiz gene pool (her mother was Hollywood legend Judy Garland, her father producer Vincente Minelli), Liza Minelli seemed to effortlessly fuse Garland's song 'n' dance acumen with a boisterous, footlight-bred persona rivaled only by Ethel Merman. This 16-track collection is a fine introduction to her body of work, especially as it's the first anthology to cull material from her key  at different labels. Bookended by her Hollywood musical iconsCabaretandTheme From New York, New York, and seasoned with Broadway tributes like "All That Jazz," it also contains a healthy cross-sampling of her compelling live work (ranging from the show-stopping "Some People" to the precocious effervescence ofLiza With a Z). Though the disco-affectations of "Losing My Mind" confirm she was never able to capture the pop zeitgeist of the moment with the chameleonic ease of Streisand, her interpretations of "Quiet Thing" and "Maybe This Time" argue she was every inch her rival's equal as a torch singer.--Jerry McCulley