Customer Reviews

50 Number Ones

5 star:		(125)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

This two-disc collection of 50 No. 1 hits from the past twenty-two years sounded too good to be true. Turns out, it is. In order to squeeze 50 tracks onto two CDs, it was necessary to edit most of the songs on this collection. While I don't have a problem with fading out a song a few seconds early, many of these songs have been seriously edited. No fewer than eight songs have been shortened by at least twenty seconds and another six have been shortened by thirty seconds or more. The worst offender is the truncated version of "Carrying Your Love With Me," which was shortened by forty-three seconds.

To the casual fan this may be no big deal, but any serious George Strait fan will notice the difference. It would have made more sense to simply add a third disc, as well as a few other top 10 songs. This may seem to fly in the face of the title, but they already included two tracks ("True" and "Run") which only reached no. 2.

For nearly a quarter of a century Gearge Strait has been one of the best of country music's traditionalists, and he certainly needed an updated greatest hits package. However, fans deserved better than this doctored version. As for me, I'm going to stick with 1995's STRAIT OUT OF THE BOX.

I am heartened to find that there are purists out there who share the same complaint I have about this CD. Cramming 51 number ones into a package is impressive...until you realize that they chopped down many of the songs (particularly the older ones) to make it all fit. They give us premature fade-outs and deleted lyrics in an attempt to market another Greatest Hits CD. It is inexcusable and not worthy of the purchase. Still, if you do happen to own this compilation, you can journey back to George's early days and experience the evolution of country music from the early '80's to today. The debate will forever rage on about the state of country music then and now and which time period was preferable, but this album can highlight those differences by charting the career of a constant bright star in country music who is now in his third decade of music-making. Outside of these historical musings, skip this album. There are several Strait Greatest Hits packages that you can buy very cheaply that encompass almost all of the songs on this album. The other albums also include many other worthy offerings that don't appear on this one like the classic, "Amarillo by Morning," "Unwound," "The Fireman," "The Cowboy Rides Away," and "Marina Del Ray." If older country isn't to your taste, just wait a few years until RCA puts out yet another compilation. Either way, give this album a pass.

Wow. Twenty straight years with at least one #1 single, and he has more #1 hits than any country artist in history - 50 of them. How could a collection of all 50 of them plus a brand new song that sounds so much like a #1 that it fits right in with the other 50 ("I Hate Everything") be less than twenty bucks? Well, as with most everything in life, there's a catch. Technology hasn't yet allowed us to make CDs that have more than 80 minutes of content on them.

All the reviewers are right in saying that many of the tracks have been edited - some a little, some drastically. But saying that they've ALL been edited isn't true. I don't think they've been edited as badly as some make out, but it will strike a nerve when you find out one or more of your favories of these 50 #1s are some that have seemingly been cut in half or more. "Fool Hearted Memory" and "True" were two of the songs I was most looking forward to owning, and I'm glad that I own them now, but it makes me beyond mad how much they edited those! Rather than saying "is true" over and over at the end of "True", the song fades out before it gets to that point... Unforgivable!

After noticing this, I was glad I got the album for only $14.95 at a local Best Buy rather than paying more for these shortened versions. But still, how could you not be glad having all these songs in one CD case. George Strait is my favorite country artist without a doubt. So much that I'll likely get Strait Out Of The Box and other compilations by him in the future; not only because many of my favorites here don't last as long as they do on the radio and other CDs, but because even with 50 great songs, I don't have all the Strait I want. "Marina Del Rey", "Lovebug", "If You're Thinking You Want A Stranger (There's One Coming Home)", Adalida, Amarillo By Morning, etc., are missing. I'm shocked every single one of those didn't make a crash landing in the #1 spot! The booklet is right in saying that "The 50 No. 1 songs featured on this collection only tell part of the story."

I understand the frustration of all the others at the edited songs, because I'm one of them, but I still say this is worth owning, especially if you don't have the box set and all his other compilations yet. George Strait fans who are thinking twice of making 50 Number Ones their own deserve what the back of the CD doesn't give you: a list of how long each individual song is on this album.

CD 1: I Hate Everything - 3:55, Fool Hearted Memory - 2:12, A Fire I Can't Put Out - 2:57, You Look So Good In Love - 2:57, Right Or Wrong - 2:03, Let's Fall To Pieces Together - 2:21, Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind - 3:05, The Chair - 2:48, Nobody In His Right Mind Would've Left Her - 2:49, It Ain't Cool To Be Crazy About You - 2:38, Ocean Front Property - 2:40, All My Ex's Live In Texas - 3:17, Am I Blue - 3:04, Famous Last Words Of A Fool - 3:19, Baby Blue - 3:29, If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin') - 2:17, Baby's Gotten Good At Goodbye - 2:55, What's Going On In Your World - 3:26, Ace In The Hole - 2:34, Love Without End, Amen - 3:05, I've Come To Expect It From You - 3:42, If I Know Me - 2:41, You Know Me Better Than That - 3:00, The Chill Of An Early Fall - 3:16, So Much Like My Dad - 3:19, I Cross My Heart - 3:29.

CD 2: Heartland - 2:16, Easy Come, Easy Go - 2:35, I'd Like To Have That One Back - 3:48, The Man in Love With You - 3:18, The Big One - 2:05, You Can't Make a Heart Love Somebody - 2:48, Lead On - 3:21, Check Yes Or No - 3:10, I Know She Still Loves Me - 3:04, Blue Clear Sky - 2:34, Carried Away - 2:58, I Can Still Make Cheyenne - 4:11, One Night At A Time - 3:19, Carrying Your Love With Me - 3:07, Today My World Slipped Away - 3:05, Round About Way - 2:50, I Just Want To Dance With You - 3:18, True - 3:12, We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This - 2:23, Write This Down - 3:33, The Best Day - 3:18, Go On - 3:21, Run - 3:46, Living And Living Well - 3:26, She'll Leave You With A Smile - 2:44

Here's a two CD set that attempts to cover the amazing career of George Strait. Personally, I dont think it's possible, and despite their best intentions, MCA Nashville was not entirely successful with this venture. All of the songs included are indeed signature george Strait; BUT, as others have pointed out, many of the songs have been edited/shortened. I consider it a slap in the face not only to the great George Strait and his songwrtiers, but more importantly, to his fans. With that said, the sound quality and layout of the discs are great; and the recordings are originals (although, often editied for length). If I were a true George Strait Fan, I'd go with the more complete Box Set. However, this is an affordable way to get a significant number of his hits on a 2 CD Set.

I would rate this 0 stars but the lowest option available is one star. This is a very important historic release 50 # 1 hits.
I can't believe that they would edit(shorten the songs from their original version). This is the life work of one of the most important artists in Country Music history. I am sure we would have all paid a couple of bucks more if they had to go to three disks to fit the songs into the collection. I wonder if George knows that they butchered up his songs.I wish I knew how to contact George Strait to find out how he feels about this and how the record company has upset his fans.I think he should make a public statement on this and file a lawsuit. Those of you who were unaware of the edits at the time of purchase should check with your stores return policy. Does anyone know how I can contact the record company to let them know how I feel.

A very disappointed fan!!!!!

Hey i agree with the two folks about the short songs. It's really unnerving to know the songs pretty much by heart and then get to the big finish and there's only one "Does Ft. Worth ever...." instead of the usual three lines of it. Half the fun is singing it three times,lol.It just feels wrong!! I love George, but like the other reviewer said, i'll probably listen to this once or twice and then go back to the original cds with the full versions of the songs. A big dud.

First, I know, if you want the entire version of a George Strait song then by the 1995 box-set. But, that was ten years and a lot of #1 hits ago. Besides, if you're going to title a CD "50 Number Ones" then include all of each of the songs. And please, don't tell me "so what if they shortened a few songs"!
It does matter if you're a true George Strait fan. Among many others, they edited "Fool Hearted Memory" his very first #1 hit. That is truly indefensible. How about this for an idea, Mr. MCA Records, The 50 number one hits, "in toto", plus the obvious chart records not included in this musically abridged
fiasco. If it takes 3 discs, then a "so what" attitude becomes
reasonable. Add $5.00 to the price, add the songs in their
entirety and add the obvious missed ones. How about, "Unwound"
his first chart record and first top 10 hit. And then you could
include "Marina Del Rey" (#6), "Amarillo By Morning" (#4), "If You're Thinking You Want A Stranger" (#3) etc, etc. You get the idea. Of course, no one at MCA Records would take this type of idea seriously. It's the bottom line stupid. They'll do another #1 hits package in ten more years and we'll buy it and they'll laugh all the way to the bank.

Cal Stout

This CD is a must purchase for any true George Strait fan or any true fan of country music for that matter. Even if you already own everything George ever recorded like I do, this set is a convenient all-in-one collection, especially for traveling. I know a few tracks were shortened or faded early, but the only one that truly bothers me is the ending to "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind?". The original ending is my favorite part of that song. Congratulations George, you are still "The King of the Cowboys". Looking forward to the "Next 50 Number Ones".

I agree with the previous reviewer, many of these songs are cut up and mangled in some way. I should've done the math, 25 songs per disc with around 80 minute capacity leaves only a little over 3 minutes per song, not enough time. It's the same story as the Rolling Stones' "40 Licks". I hate when record companies do this, it makes me want to not buy anything else from them. I'd much rather have 40 complete songs or pay more for a 3-disc set for the album versions. Because of the edits, I don't think I'll ever listen to this. A complete waste of money. They could at least have the courtesy to warn you by giving track running times on the back cover, but that might cut in sales. Greed rules again in the record industry. Save your money.

It's ironic that the liner notes extol George Strait's virtues as a plainspoken man, and his longevity as a hitmaker, while the discs themselves offer a highly stylized view of his recording career. One could favorably suggest that cramming 51 tracks onto two CDs provides buyers a great value, but when those tracks are edited from their original form so as to fit, one has to think that a lower count of original versions would have been a better idea.

What one can glean from this collection is how incredibly consistent Strait has been as a hitmaker, and how true to himself he's been as a recording artist. He's shown an unmatched ability to find songs, and as he became more famous, exert the gravitational pull that brought songs and songwriters to him. Even better is how he's virtually ignored Nashville's flavors-of-the-month by crafting contemporary sounding recordings that pay a strong debt to country music of the 40s and 50s.

Marketing ran the show on this one, counting #1s from a variety of charts and apparently figuring that the profit from a triple-disc set wouldn't match that of a double. Given the number of copies that fill racks at used CD stores, many fans seem to have rejected MCA's gameplan. 5 stars for Strait's original recordings, 1 star for the edited versions. [©2005 hyperbolium dot com]