The logical place to start has to be the debut disc, The Legend Of Chin. Released in 1997, the disc includes 11 tracks. You can definitely tell that this is a debut disc, as the music sounds much less polished than The Beautiful Letdown. However, that is not meant to be a deterrent. Instead, it's almost nostalgic. It just feels like the mid-90s again when this disc is on. Tracks like Chem 6A, Don't Be There, Bomb and You can let you get lost in the disc. Looking back at the tracks now, the disc can sound cheesy at times. But you can hear the makings of a band that will have the ability to touch masses of people (Chem 6A is a song that cries out to teens in high school about the boredom of...well, being in high school). Whether it is a song about boredom or a song about something more, The Legend Of Chin is a clear indicator of a band that was about to blow up.
Then came the 1999 release of New Way To Be Human. A disc spanning 10 songs, this one put Switchfoot on the radar of Christian radio. The title track became a huge hit on radio and was one of the major propellants for Switchfoot's career. Aside from the title track, songs like Incomplete, Sooner Or Later and Only Hope pointed to the maturation process of Switchfoot musically and lyrically. In fact, Only Hope became a massive hit in 2002 after Mandy Moore covered it on the soundtrack for the movie A Walk To Remember. Both Moore's version and the original Switchfoot version were included on the disc, along with three other Switchfoot songs and a Mandy Moore/Jonathan Foreman duet.
Also featured on the soundtrack was the original recording of Dare You To Move, a song that came from the 2000 release Learning To Breathe. Fans will likely gravitate toward one version or the other, though both versions aren't that different (the vocals a bit more clear in the 2000 version, while the music is a bit more favorable in the 2003 version). But this was hardly the only track to garner recognition from this disc. In fact, with songs like You Already Take Me There, the title track, the previously mentioned Dare You To Move and eight other tracks, Learning To Breathe garnered a nomination for the Best Rock Gospel Album Grammy in 2001. Learning To Breathe is the completion of the Switchfoot sound that is found on The Beautiful Letdown, and it is the disc that began the explosion that came to a head with the release of The Beautiful Letdown.
Overall, if you already own these three discs, then there's obviously no reason to purchase them again. However, if you have just gotten into Switchfoot in the last two years, then this three disc set is well worth the 20 to 25 dollars that you'll spend on it. It's not just a nostalgic look at a band that has gotten some massive popularity in the last two years, but it is also quality music that allows fans to become even bigger fans of Switchfoot, and allows them to see that this not some one-or-two-hit-wonder that you'll never see again. Switchfoot has been around, and they're going to be here for a while. So it's time to strap in for the ride.