Marianne faithfull deserves better. She deserves respect not only because she lived to tell about her time in the Rolling Stones' orbit but also because she recorded two of the best albums of the 1970s and '80s, Broken English (1979) and Strange Weather (1987). At a time when even minor bands are getting the full-bore, remastered, remixed, lovingly annotated and packaged multidisc luxury box-set treatment, Island makes short shrift of Faithfull with this sketchy single-CD "greatest hits" collection.

Back in 1969, when it looked as though Faithfull was about to become yet another casualty of rock & roll, Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Decca threw together a black-trimmed "memorial" greatest-hits collection. A Collection of Her Best Recordings, released to coincide with the recent publication of her memoirs (titled Faithfull: An Autobiography), is an equally blatant attempt to cash in on her notorious life and work.

It's hard to argue with the choices that Collection includes from Broken English: Fifteen years on, the title track and "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" sound even better, and the caustic "Why D'Ya Do It" remains one of the most powerfully bitter songs ever recorded. But Faithfull's later albums, including Strange Weather, are reduced to selections of one song each. And if "As Tears Go By" is included, where is "Sister Morphine," a song co-written by Faithfull with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and a recording more powerful than the Stones' version? An essay by David Dalton (Faithfull's literary collaborator) simply rewrites the key parts of her memoirs.

This putative greatest-hits collection also contains an advance look at Faithfull's next album, a collaboration with composer Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks, Julee Cruise). "She," a lush, melancholy song, whets the appetite for that album. In the meantime, search out copies of Broken English and Strange Weather. (RS 693)

STEVEN MIRKIN