Carly Simon used to be dangerous. Remember? She had to her credit a lethal attack on marriage ("That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be") and one of the most quotable put-down songs ever ("You're So Vain"). Those were the days.

But she threw it all away. After having scored a direct hit on the institution of holy matrimony, she had the gall to go and get hitched! Shocking. For whatever reason, her music consequently lost much of that restless and abrasive (some said obnoxious) quality so crucial to its personality. Indeed, so important had that edge been that, without it, her albums' statements were made by the silly covers rather than the contents….

Simon's failure to keep up her credibility can be tied directly to the fact that she lacked the massive egotism and exhibitionistic tendencies that make Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and even hubby James...