The Definitive Collection by Traffic (CD, Mar-2007, Island Records USA)

At first I was sceptical about listening to "Paper Sun" and "Low Spark of High Heeled Boy" on the same album. However, Traffic is a band that somehow blends together musically in such a way, over such a long period of time, that you can actually produce a compilation album containing early work and later pieces that are seemingly miles apart in terms of evolution, and it works. It all flows in a way that is surprising and revelatory of the band's underlying unity of purpose, right from the start. If you don't know Traffic yet, have no fear about buying this album first. It'll introduce you to some of the best music of the sixties and seventies, by far.