Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Five O'Clock 500 - (previously unreleased)
2. Keepin' Up - (previously unreleased)
3. How Do You Fall In Love - (previously unreleased)
4. Tennessee River
5. Why Lady Why
6. Old Flame
7. Feels So Right
8. Love in the First Degree
9. Mountain Music
10. Take Me Down
11. Close Enough to Perfect
12. Dixieland Delight
13. The Closer You Get
14. Lady Down on Love
15. Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)
16. When We Make Love
17. If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)
18. (There's A) Fire in the Night
19. There's No Way
20. Forty Hour Week (For a Livin')
21. Can't Keep a Good Man Down
22. She and I

Disc 2:

1. Touch Me When We're Dancing
2. You've Got the Touch
3. Face to Face
4. Fallin' Again
5. Song of the South
6. If I Had You
7. High Cotton
8. Southern Star
9. Jukebox in My Mind
10. Forever's as Far as I'll Go
11. Down Home
12. Here We Are
13. Then Again
14. Born Country
15. I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)
16. Once Upon a Lifetime
17. Hometown Honeymoon
18. Reckless
19. Give Me One More Shot
20. She Ain't Your Ordinary Girl
21. In Pictures
22. Sad Lookin' Moon

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79429 in Music
• Released on: 1998-08-25
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.com
Alabama epitomizes the term people's band. Never a critics' favorite, the quartet from Fort Payne, Alabama, presents slick, sentimental songs that unerringly catch the ear of fans yet mystify those who don't hear the appeal. This two-CD career retrospective, which presents all 41 of the group's No. 1 hits, underlines just how successful they've been. The strengths are there: Randy Owen's clear, deep, intimate vocals; the focus on accessible melodies and musical hooks; and the straightforward song sense that plainly celebrates love, family, and home with all the simplicity of homilies stitched into a framed kitchen doily. Some might argue about Alabama's artistic value, but the band's 18-year track record offers a convincing retort. --Michael McCall

USA Today
Only a blindly devoted fan would believe there couldn't be a better Alabama compilation, though few could argue for a more comprehensive one.

Customer Reviews

20 years of rocking country music
41 number one hits (and they've had a 42nd since then) is an impressive record by any standards. They've also had a lot of other hits which came close. One of my favorite Alabama songs, Pass it on down, peaked at number two, therefore didn't make this collection. Their debut single, My home's in Alabama, only peaked at number 16 and also misses out. I'm not complaining really, but it would be nice to see another compilation - perhaps it could be called Not the number one hits (it would contain a lot of quality songs, and would be better than most Greatest hits collections).

What you get here is three songs recorded especially for this album, one of which made number one when eventually released as singles, together with all those 41 hits.

Alabama were always the champions of the blue collar workers, most clearly illustrated on Forty hour week, in which they pay tribute to all those who keep America going. It's a great song, but there are several others I like even better. One of my favorites, In pictures, is a song about being so busy working that you don't see much of your family except in pictures. It was brilliantly covered by Linda Davis, a seriously under-rated singer who spent a lot of time backing Reba. Tennessee River, another of my favorites, was Alabama's first number one. Hank Williams Junior did a great cover of it for his Rowdy album, which is one of his best albums. My favorites also include Old flame, Feels so right, Mountain music, Song of the south and Hometown honeymoon - but most of the other songs are not far behind.

Alabama wrote nearly all their own material, but they did occasionally record covers. The only one to qualify for this collection is Touch me when we're dancing, previously recorded by the Carpenters. This is a wonderful collection which may not appeal to the critics, but the fans love it, and it's not difficult to see why.

Alabama is great. Edited versions of songs aren't great.
When Alabama first came out, they were one of the few country acts to not only have a string of hit singles, but also have albums that you could listen and enjoy nearly every song. So many compilations have been issued featuring Alabama's best, but this is the first to encompass their entire career. I've always enjoyed Alabama, especially their early releases. What I don't enjoy is buying a $25 CD set and getting cut-up edited versions of songs. For instance, half the fiddle solo is cut out of "Dixieland Delight", the drum solo is cut out of "Mountain Music" and those are just a couple examples. I wish RCA would release a compilation featuring the versions that are on the original albums. That's how I remember the songs, that's how I want to hear them today.

One of country musics top bands
Before the 1980s there was only one established country band, they were the Statler Brothers. By the 1980s country music had a new band, they were called Alabama. For over twenty years Alabama has been a major country band. They are popular throughout the world. This CD contains all of their number one classics. From the riveting "Mountain Music" and "Tennessee River" to their tender ballads "Feel so right" and "Why lady why".

One great song is "Roll on eighteen wheeler." The lyrics were not that great but the song expresses a strong love for family. "Forty-Hour week" is a tribute to the working class person who keeps this country moving. One of their top songs is "Song of the South" which is about life in the south during the depression. Alabama has shown they can sing ballads as well as riveting songs that gets your feet tapping. They effectively blend both country and rock and roll. Very few bands last as long as long as Alabama. Alabama will be a major part of country and American popular music for years to come.