Track Listing

1. The Best Day
2. Murder On Music Row
3. Carrying Your Love With Me
4. Adalida
5. Lead On
6. Carried Away
7. Blue Clear Sky
8. We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This
9. I Can Still Make Cheyenne
10. True
11. King Of The Mountain
12. Round About Way
13. You Can't Make A Heart Love Somebody
14. One Night At A Time
15. Today My World Slipped Away

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23181 in Music
• Released on: 2000-03-07
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
George Strait's first three greatest-hits albums (now made redundant by the four-disc Strait Out of the Box) collected essential examples of contemporary country music. In his finest singles, Strait seemed to resolve, both commercially and artistically, the tensions between hardcore twang and New Country pop. His 2000 best-of set, however, documents Strait's decline. Oh, the radio play has continued unabated--12 of the 15 tracks here made the country Top 10--but emotionally it is a sad and tedious tumble from the Cajun stomp of 1994's "Adalida" and the deliberate self-deceptions of 1996's "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" to pop-rock successes like 1998's catchy but insipid "True." The two new tracks leave the future as anybody's guess: "Murder on Music Row," a duet with Alan Jackson, pledges allegiance to tradition (both in message and execution), but "The Best Day" is devoid of any of the adult ambiguity, previously a Strait staple, that would grant it poignancy. --David Cantwell

Customer Reviews

Buy it with 'Greatest Hits Vol. 2' and you have the 'total package'
George Strait has had so many number one hits it's kind of hard to count. He had 50 a couple of years ago, but he's had so many since than, I honestly don't know.

This set documents most of his best work of the 1990s, and includes two mighty fine new recordings, 'The Best Day' and the duet with country music legend Alan Jackson, 'Murder On Music Row.' You also get some of his finest songs of the 1990s as a country chart topper, including 'Lead On' and 'Carrying Your Love With Me.'

And, MCA did a great job remastering the songs too. The sound quality is excellent!

Overall, this is a great set to own. And if you own 'Greatest Hits Vol. 2' and/or 'Greatest Hits,' pair it with this, and you have a mighty fine George collection.

Highly recommended for the new or casual Strait fan. You'll get your money's worth with this set. Very entertaining. ENJOY!!!

Strait Classics!
George Strait is a legend. This cd is amazing. If your a fan, buy it today!!!

The mid-nineties hits
The album picks up George's career where the boxed set (Strait out of the box) ends, so it covers the period from 1994 to 1998. It shows that George's style was evolving but still firmly rooted in traditional country music.

The album opens with two songs specially recorded for the album, the first (The best day) being an excellent ballad. The second song (Murder on music row) was first written and recorded by Larry Cordle, a bluegrass performer. Here, George sings it as a duet with Alan Jackson. George rarely sings duets but although there is no obvious reason for this particular song to be a duet, George and Alan clearly enjoyed recording this song. While both George and Alan have made some concessions to the requirements of the contemporary market place, they have both managed to be hugely successful with music that is much closer to traditional country music than most of the music recorded in Nashville these days.

The remaining tracks are taken from just four albums, these being Lead on (Adalida, Lead on, You can't make a heart love somebody), Blue clear sky (the title track, Carried away, I can still make it to Cheyenne, King of the mountain), Carrying your love with me (the title track, Round about way, One night at a time, Today my word slipped away) and One step at a time (True, We really shouldn't be doing this). Of these songs, Today my world slipped away is a cover of a Vern Gosdin country hit but the others (as far as I know) are original songs.

Picking out highlights in such a strong collection is difficult, but I'll nominate Murder on Music Row, Adalida, Blue clear sky and King of the mountain. If you are new to George's music, this compilation makes a great introduction.