Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at
5:28 pm

Amazon.com essential recording
With a sad tenor that sounded like Mr. Haney from Green Acres, Tim McGraw, a freshman in country’s crowded class of ‘92, seemed the least likely to graduate to superstardom. But eight years and 20 million albums and singles later, here he is with a greatest hits package so stuffed with songs–15 in all–that it doesn’t have room for any new tunes, or even the best of all, “Everywhere.” McGraw’s appeal is two-fold: Aside from his unlistenable duets with wife Faith Hill and the abysmal “Indian Outlaw” that jump-started his career, he’s had excellent taste in songs. And he’s the epitome of the average guy in search of extraordinary love–the loser who becomes a winner. You see it all here, in the hate-it-but-love-it “Don’t Take the Girl,” the adrenaline rush of “Something Like That,” and the infectious “I Like It, I Love It.” If this album doesn’t give hope to every karaoke singer in America, nothing will. –Alanna Nash
Tim McGraw – Greatest Hits
Monday, January 25th, 2010 at
5:35 pm

Album Description
This collection documents the hits of country music icon Buck Owens as he defined the Bakersfield sound and became a major architect of west coast country overall.Amazon.com
Buck Owens’s role as co-host of Hee Haw hokum was imprinted so strongly on the public’s consciousness that it tends to overshadow his musical legacy. As this set of chart-toppers attests, no country artist dominated the early-to-mid 1960s like the Bard of Bakersfield. His twisted, elongated syllables and twangy interplay with guitarist Don Rich put a signature stamp on material ranging from the uptempo “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail”–a pop crossover smash as well–to the heartfelt balladry of “Together Again” and “Only You (Can Break My Heart).” A late ’80s revival of “Streets of Bakersfield” in duet with Dwight Yoakam, Owens’s leading disciple, put Buck back atop the charts. Liner testimonials from Chris Isaak and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons attest to the reach of his influence, while his breakthrough hit, “Act Naturally,” inspired a popular cover (on the Help! album) by the Beatles. –Don McLeese
21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection
Monday, January 25th, 2010 at
2:23 pm

Amazon.com
This is Hank Jr. in his late-’70s/early-’80s version, that brief moment after he’d discovered a sound and persona that wasn’t just inherited but before he devolved into a good-old-boy caricature. Not that Bocephus isn’t engaging in some posturing here already–the preposterous “Texas Women,” for example, could stand unaltered as a Saturday Night Live parody of redneck lechery. More often, though, the 10 hit singles on this disc combine a low-key brand of Southern rock boogie with plenty of twang to fashion a wholly distinctive take on country tradition. Williams’s work here is always indelible, and though he likes to drop his daddy’s name a bit too often, it’s hard to argue with introspective numbers like “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)” and “Family Tradition,” which each offer a unique and timeless take on the honky-tonk blues. –David Cantwell
Hank Williams, Jr.’s Greatest Hits, Vol.1
Monday, January 25th, 2010 at
12:24 pm

Album Description
Faith Hill finally has her first greatest-hits album after 6 successful albums. The Hits spans the superstar’s career by bringing together seven number one hits like “This Kiss,” “Breathe,” and “Mississippi Girl” plus more fan favorites.
“The Hits”
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at
9:36 pm

Amazon.com
You don’t have to get very far into Alan Jackson’s splendid second anthology of hits before you’re struck by how well the rangy Georgian has built his catalogue and how beautifully Keith Stegall continually produces his songs, filling the instrumental breaks with unexpectedly creative solos. While Jackson’s choice of cover songs is usually inspired (“Pop-A-Top,” “Little Bitty”), he’s a deft writer, alternating his tongue-in-cheek, Sheriff Andy Taylor persona with his “just a singer of simple songs” earnestness, lacing it all with an unfettered delivery and a Haggardesque dedication to the bedrock honky-tonk sound. There are times when he edges too close to formula, running the romanticized, small-town, cornbread-and-chicken conceits (“Where I Come From”) into the ground. But then he quickly redeems himself with a lip-tremblingly good “Drive” or “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” This package consists of two discs, 16 hits and two new cuts filling the first and an unnecessary and somewhat inferior eight album tracks occupying the second. Of the two new songs, the emotional husband-and-wife ballad “Remember When” handily outdistances the too-trite “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” with perennial smart-ass Jimmy Buffett. Jackson’s too good an artist to settle for such an easy reach, but hey, let’s cut him a little slack. He’s paid his dues. –Alanna Nash
Greatest Hits 2
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at
8:52 pm

Album Description
When talking about the history of Rock ‘N’ Roll, Rick ‘Ricky’ Nelson tends to get overlooked. While he didn’t create the genre, brought the new style of music to the masses when his character began performing it on the Ozzie & Harriet show in the late ’50s. He became a teen idol and recorded some of the finest music of the era including ‘Poor Little Fool’, ‘Lonesome Town’, ‘I’m Walking’, ‘It’s Late’, ‘Travelin’ Man’, ‘Hello Mary Lou’ and more. In the ’60s, he dropped the ‘y’ and became Rick and scored more hits. His final hit, the self-penned ‘Garden Party’, was one of the biggest hits of his career and, once again, he helped to introduce the vibrant and young Country Rock movement to the masses. 25 tracks. EMI Gold.
Ricky Nelson – Greatest Hits
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at
7:40 pm

Album Details
Digitally Remastered Collection from the Late Country Singer with a Generous Helping of 25 of his Many Hit Songs that Are Loved by Millions Round the World.
Jim Reeves: Greatest Hits
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at
8:30 am

Product Description
No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE
Title: GREATEST HITS
Street Release Date: 09/28/1999
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP
Pure Prairie League: Greatest Hits
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at
7:26 am

Product Description
No Description Available.
Genre: Country & Western
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 26-SEP-2000Amazon.com
East Tennessee-born singer Kenny Chesney has, in the course of his relatively brief career, proven to be an unremarkable but thoroughly competent singer who shows occasional flashes of brilliance when teamed with the right song. That happens roughly half the time on this 17-cut compilation disc, which, despite its title, actually includes four new songs, one rerecording, and a remix. Amid soppy country-pop chart fodder (“Me and You,” “When I Close My Eyes”) and second-rate ditties (“How Forever Feels,” “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy”), Chesney hits his stride on robust country ballads like “You Had Me from Hello” and the lead single “I Lost It.” On other gems–like “That’s Why I’m Here,” a heartfelt tribute to the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program that topped the charts a while back; “Baptism,” a great duet with Randy Travis; and his fine rerecording of “Tin Man,” the song that launched his career in the mid ’90s–Chesney even manages to attain an ephemeral but utterly moving transcendence over his vocal limitations and sometimes questionable song choices. –Bob Allen
Kenny Chesney – Greatest Hits
Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at
3:23 am

Amazon.com essential recording
Hank 101. Country 101. After 27 years in print as 24 Greatest Hits, Mercury kindly reduced it to 20 Greatest Hits. It’s still excellent value, and it’s still sobering to realize that Hank recorded just 66 songs during his lifetime, almost all of them essential. Here are those that serve as a working definition of country music, and as an admonition to artists who try to get too wordy or try to lose themselves in minor keys. “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Honky-Tonk Blues,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Lovesick Blues,” “You Win Again,” “I Can’t Help It,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” and the rest. Fifty years later, they still have the power to move, and the power to shape modern country music. –Colin Escott
20 of Hank Williams’ Greatest Hits