Fotheringay were a short-lived offshoot of Fairport Convention, featuring key member and leader Sandy Denny. The band's only studio album, a self-titled record featuring Denny's own compositions and several covers, arrived in 1970. (A second album was planned but never completed, although guitarist Jerry Donahue later completed the project and released it in 2008 as Fotheringay 2.) While Fotheringay's work proved to be interesting and beguiling, the band nevertheless broke up in 1971, with Denny going on to launch a solo career. She also sang in duet with Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore," becoming the only guest vocalist to perform on any of the band's albums.

Although there's nothing here as overpowering as "Sailor's Life" or "Sloth," this record is still a choice release, as Sandy Denny's official return to Fairport. She wrote or co-wrote seven of its 11 songs, and dominates most of the others with her voice. This lineup (Denny, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Pegg, Jerry Donahue, Trevor Lucas, and Bruce Rowland, with Dave Mattacks - who quit partway through - drumming on some of the tracks) went for the gold with rock veteran Glyn Johns in the producer's spot. The result was the only Fairport album done after the departure of Richard Thompson that doesn't sound anemic in the electric guitar department. Some of the songs, especially the title track and "Restless," have the feel of compact, breezy pop/country-rock, reminiscent of the Eagles or Firefall, although it's hard to imagine either of those groups turning in anything with the ethereal beauty of Denny's performance on "White Dress" or "Dawn"…

Island's single-disc Sandy Denny compilation does its best to offer a compact overview of the iconic singer's work. Focusing on the four records completed before her death in 1978, the 17-track Listen Listen winds comfortably through career highlights like "The North Star Grassman and the Raven," "Blackwaterside," and the gorgeous title track. Fans will contest the omission of tracks like "Carnival" and "It Suits Me Well," but for such a slim collection – considering Denny's invaluable work with Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, and the Strawbs – Listen Listen is a fine introduction to the artist's later days.