Clint Black - The Greatest Hits

Clint Black | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 24, 1996)
• Original Release Date: September 24, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002WUF
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,082 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #28 in Music > Country > Neotraditional
  • #80 in Music > Music Deals > 3 CDs for $25, Plus FREE Super Saver Shipping

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good -not great- overview of a talented artist's first phase, April 23, 2003

By 

James E. Bagley "Jim Bagley" (Sanatoga, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Clint Black - The Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Clint Black arrived on the country charts in 1989, a great year for new talent in country music, with Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and Travis Tritt also releasing debut albums. As hard as it may be to believe now, Black's debut Killin' Time established him initially as the biggest of the new stars with hits like "A Better Man," "Nobody's Home," and the title track.

These songs effectively displayed Black's clever wordplay amid fairly traditional honky tonk arrangements and a Haggardesque vocal style with a dash of quiver. While it wasn't long before Black was surpassed in the sales and award arena by Brooks and even Jackson, his music continued to captivate - as this Greatest Hits shows.

All of his first five albums are represented on Greatest Hits, but strangely, only "A Better Man" and "Killin' Time" are here from the first album, with the lone entry from his second, Put Yourself In My Place, being its title track. Any collection calling itself Black's Greatest should have included the aforementioned "Nobody's Home" (now available on Greatest Hits II) and the sumptuous "Loving Blind."

By the time Black released his fourth and fifth albums (which have a combined seven tracks included here), his music had begun to lack some originality. The melodies for "We Tell Ourselves" and "No Time To Kill" are pretty much interchangeable and "Summer's Comin'" sounds like a knockoff of Jackson's megahit "Chattahoochee" (and even if it's not, Black's lyrics have never been so uninspired).

Still, there were always plenty of highpoints, like the uptempo "Life Gets Away" and "A Good Run Of Bad Luck," plus his spinetingling pairing with Wynonna, "A Bad Goodbye." About the only big hit missing from albums 3 through 5 is the logistically-challenged yet irresistible "When My Ship Comes In" from The Hard Way (also available on Greatest Hits II).

Greatest Hits added four new recordings intended to appeal to the Black fan who already has everything else. "Like The Rain" is a haunting departure for Black that is truly among his best work. Likewise, "Cadillac Jack Favor" offers a nice change of pace in the form of a story song: the true saga of rodeo champ Favor who was framed for murder but eventually found innocent.

Less memorable are Black's downbeat "Half Way Up" and a live version of Desperado" with clumsy phrasing that never threatens to rival the Eagles' original version. These last two tracks are the exception rather than the rule, however. Greatest Hits is a consistently entertaining (if not fully comprehensive) set of highlights from the first phase of one of country music's most gifted singer-songwriters.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not excellent, but still great, December 19, 1999

By 

Ken Schoonover, Jr. (Springdale, AR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clint Black - The Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

I could have given Clint Black's The Greatest Hits album five stars, because musically, it is great. The newer songs on this record, "Like The Rain", "Half Way Up", and "Cadillac Jack Favor", are among Clint's best. I also like Clint's live version of the Eagles' classic song "Desperado", which Clint originally did for the "Common Thread" Eagles tribute album. However, although Clint and his co-producer, James Stroud, put together a strong collection of songs, I think Clint overlooked some songs from early in his career that in my opinion are classics. "Lovin' Blind", "Where Are You Now", and "When My Ship Comes In", all #1 hits, are very good songs, yet they don't even appear on The Greatest Hits. Nevertheless, Clint still put enough of his hit songs on this record that it's truly a high quality collection. "A Better Man", "Killin' Time", "Put Yourself In My Shoes" and "Summer's Comin'", all among my personal favorites, are on here, along with eight more of Clint's classic hits. The Greatest Hits lives up to its name.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of Country Music's True Treasures, September 30, 2001

By 

Barry "Barrybgb" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clint Black - The Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Clint Black is a great country artist, no if's, and's, or but's about it. He has a pure, classic voice. His lyric writing and melodies are flawless and fresh. This Greatest Hits album is just as perfect as an all new, original album. You get two new songs on here called "Like The Rain", which is a great, strong Clint song. The other is called "Halfway Up", which is a pleasing little ditty. The rest is pure gold. "A Better Man" is as good a country song as country songs get. His rendition of the classic Eagles song "Desperado" is priceless. It shows off his impressive vocal abilities. His performance of it gives goosebumps that Don Henley hasn'y given me when he sings it. There is not one bad track on here. Each song is as good as any other one. A lot of the songs are bouncy up-tempo songs, and that's just fine. "A Good Run Of Bad Luck" is great. The best catchy song is "Summer's Comin'". It's a great summer type song along the lines of "Summertime Blues". An instant classic. If you like country music, you need this. If your not sure about country music and are willing to experiment, this CD is a great place to start. Clint Black can do no wrong.