An album few heard upon its release and even fewer have ever heard of now...but a real, real gem. Janis Ian's self-titled album is a mixed collection of upbeat soft rock tracks and truly memorable and melodic piano ballads like "Tonight Will Last Forever", "I Need to Live Alone Again" and the incomparable "The Bridge" (one of the most beautiful compositions of her career.) With this album Ian (perhaps better known as a guitarist) reveals herself to be a truly masterful and accomplished pianist. Her keyboards on "Streetlife Serenaders" border on virtuosity and her jazz-influenced piano work on "Silly Habits" add a new dimension to her already accomplished songwriting skills. Lyrically the album is another confessional journey through the everyday life, love and struggles of the artist with occasional detours into childhood reminescences and nostalgia with tracks like "That Grand Illusion" (a track about a love affair with the cinema) and "My Mama's House". All in all, a beautiful job. The production, like so many other sparse recordings from the late 1970s, may sound dated to younger audiences who are used to the clean digital sounds of today...but the sincerity and simplicity of Janis Ian's songwriting and arrangements and the true beauty of good melodies and harmonies holds up and bears repeated listening even after these many decades. If you can obtain a copy...please don't let this largely ignored collection of eleven outstanding tracks pass you by.