Track Listing

1. Not Counting You
2. I've Got a Good Thing Going
3. If Tomorrow Never Comes
4. Uptown Down Home Good Ol' Boy
5. Everytime That It Rains
6. Alabama Clay
7. Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)
8. Cowboy Bill
9. Nobody Gets Off in This Town
10. I Know One
11. The Dance

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79820 in Music
• Released on: 2000-11-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued

Amazon.com essential recording
If one were forced to choose a single Garth Brooks album to own, it should be his first. Believe it or not, Brooks once studied at the feet of singer/songwriter Bob Childers, an obscure Oklahoman who has written songs more akin to Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt than to the pop country Brooks would later make his cash cow. This debut has a vision of careful songwriting and honky-tonk traditions Brooks never fully recaptured. "If Tomorrow Never Comes" is the best thing he's ever recorded, a gorgeous country tune recalling Lefty Frizzell and Charlie Rich. Had he continued to make such strong singles, Brooks's artistic stature might have equaled his stock portfolio. It never happened, but that shouldn't stop us from recognizing country music this solid. --Roy Kasten

Amazon.com
Unlikely as it might seem some 70 million in total album sales later, Garth Brooks's self-titled debut was widely ignored at the time of its 1989 release. Most of the program doesn't wander far from the new-traditionalist country pattern established in the '80s by George Strait. Songs such as "If Tomorrow Never Comes," "Every Time That It Rains," and "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" have an understated charm that stands in appealing contrast to the self-conscious grandiosity of much of Brooks's later work. But it was the least traditional tune on the album, the melodramatic ballad "The Dance," that catapulted Brooks to superstardom. The rest, as they say, is history. --Rick Mitchell

Customer Reviews

Only Good Garth Album
Here is an artist that blew his wad on the first take....after this album, it was all downhill for country music. Of course, the pop music crowd ate him up, and the guy made millions...but left most of the real country music fans scratching their heads, and wondering what the hell happened! But, back to the album. This CD showcases Garth's talents with such numbers as: "I Know One", "Much Too Young", and "If Tomorrow Never Comes". It also includes the more "pop" oriented preview of the "Garth" to come, such as "The Dance" and "Everytime that it Rains". Despite my distaste for the direction he led country music (and he's a natural leader!), this is a solid album. I just wish his follow-up CD's would have followed the same vein.

O.K. CD SOME SONGS ARE GOOD, MOST ARE AVERAGE!
Like most of Garth Brook's CDs, this one is average. The best songs on here are "The Dance" and "If Tomorrow Never Comes". Recording techniques using ultra modern equipment make anyone sound good but if you have ever seen this man perform live..and I have....he tends to go flat very often and cannot maintain his pitch. They can make anyone sound good on the records but the real proof of a good singer is in hearing them live. In Garth's case he does a lot of screaming and banging and breaking guitars but the man really cannot carry a tune to save his life.

The start of a great career
Whatever you think of Garth's music, there is no doubt that Garth took country music to a wider audience (at least in America) than anybody else had ever done before him. He ended up outselling most pop stars while other country singers were able to sell albums in much larger quantities than their predecessors had done. So this first album by Garth marks the start of a musical revolution. This album yielded three major country hits (Much too young, The dance, If tomorrow never comes) but also contains many other excellent songs.

The first hit (Much too young) made the country top ten while giving a massive boost the career of a hitherto obscure singer called Chris LeDoux, who get a mention in the lyrics. However, the other two hits are the ones that live longest in the memory. The remain among Garth's most popular hits. Although neither charted in the UK at the time, The dance eventually became a minor UK hit for Garth while If tomorrow never comes topped the UK charts in 2002 when covered by Ronan Keating.

Among the outstanding album tracks are Alabama clay (about somebody attracted to the city lights only to realize that life on the farm is more to his liking), Every time that it rains (about a good memory of love on a rainy day), Nobody gets off in this town (about a town that has nothing to offer) and Cowboy Bill (a story song of the type that Kenny Rogers used to be so good at).

This is a classic album. I rate it third among Garth's albums (behind No fences and In pieces) but I'm sure that there are plenty of people who regard this as their favorite Garth album. If you enjoy Garth's music, you'll love this album.