Customer Reviews

Something To Be Proud Of: The Best Of 1999-2005

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

As many people may know by now, Sony was recently caught with egg on their face when a security specialist found out that a recently purchased CD (Van Zant: Get Right With The Man) from Sony music not only installed DRM software (digital rights management, to limit and outright prevent copying music to certain devices), but it did so in such a sneaky way that it hid itself entirely from Windows, and opened the system up to security issues such as viruses.

This CD has the same copyright protection, called XCP. When installed, Sony hijacks your computer and installs custom software which:

1) Hides itself entirely from Windows by installing as a rootkit
2) Hides itself in such a manner that any files begining with $sys$ are also hidden. For example, if you install the XCP copy protection software on your machine, and rename "document.doc" to "$sys$document.doc" it then becomes invivisble to you forever.
3) Installs its own custom CD-Rom drivers to hijack your system. It also sneakily names these drivers "Plug and Play Device Manager" to seem as if it's a part of Windows. Trying to delete these drivers manually will disable your CD-Rom drive entirely.
4) Offers no uninstall option until you manually contact Sony

As of my writing this review, Sony has "apologized" for this incident, and claims they will "re-evaluate" this copyright protection software on their CDs in the future.

In the meantime, a virus is currently running wild, which names itself begining with $sys$ in an attempt to hide from the user and virus scanners.

Several class action lawsuits are also pending against Sony right now.

In summary, as you can tell from above, Sony's actions here are absolutely horrible. This is your music. You purchased it, and they should not have any right to dictate how you can use it, let alone install software which compromises your system security.

This is one of the CDs with Sony's XCP copyright protection software on it, and as a result, you should not buy it to send a message to Sony that this will NOT be tolerated in the future.

I'm leaving off a star here not because of lack of talent--Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry are two of the hardest-working, most talented guys in the music business today--but because this compilation leaves something to be desired; namely, some of the earlier, low-key songs. Also, it seems a bit soon for a "greatest hits" release from these guys...but they do deserve it.

I'm going to make an obligatory note about the singles this album doesn't cover (I don't know why they aren't featured, because they were some great tunes). Starting from the first album and working our way up: "All Night Long" (with Charlie Daniels); "Self Made Man;" "Cold One Comin' On;" and "You Do Your Thing." I don't think I missed any. Fortunately, two rarities (the honest and gut-wrenching "Didn't I" and Robert Earl Keene's hilarious "Merry Christmas From the Family") are included.

Montgomery Gentry have managed to meld enough southern rock into their country to make themselves unique. In fact, it's safe to say they've brought about a resurgence of interest in southern butt-kicking attitude and values. Their songs, ranging from the souther-pride of "Hillbilly Shoes" to the romantic devotion of "She Don't Tell Me To" (first hit to most recent, in other words), remain tried-and-true country, and yet scoff the traditionalism that, when they first emerged in the late nineties, was running rampant (nothing against traditional country music, of course, but it was being packaged and commercialized at the time). Independent, hard-core, rock-steady, superbly talented...that's Montgomery Gentry. Certainly, the music they have crafted is worth taking pride in. Here's to many more "greatest hits" packages from one of country's most talented and unique artists.

Montgomery Gentry is one of my favorite country bands. Their latest CD, "Something To Be Proud Of: The Best of 1999-2005" is a great CD. It's only missing one of their more popular songs, "Cold One Coming On". The content of this CD is 5 stars.

One downfall to this release is that it contains copy protected content. You will NOT be able to play OR rip this CD without using Windows Media Player. None of my other programs such as MusicMatch or Winamp recognize there is a CD in the drive. You have to install software to play the CD on your computer! This is why I gave this CD only 3 stars.

Sadly, this trend has spread to country music. This CD tries to install software on your computer. It will only let you make 'limited copies' that can only be transferred to 'approved devices' and it will only play on your PC using certain programs. All in all, this is very unsatisfactory. The mess Sony got themselves in with their copy protection software should have been a warning to all companies, but apparently it wasn't.

Amazon sometimes warns you before purchasing a CD with copy protection; in which case I always pass. However, this time they didn't include a warning.

Are Montgomery Gentry great? You bet. And I'm sure they didn't have anything to do with the decision to install this spyware on their fan's computers.

Montgomery Gentry is a pairing that is greater than its individual parts. Eddie Montgomery's rough hewn baritone, for instance, lacks range, yet works well on spoken word verses and effectively counters Troy Gentry's bombastic, elastic tenor.

For the past seven years, Montgomery Gentry has been a country radio staple, but their biggest hits have tended to be hard hitting, country rock stompers like "Hillbilly Shoes," "She Couldn't Change Me," "Hell Yeah," and "Gone." This tendancy is reflected on this "best of", as only a few ballads are included in this thirteen-track lineup (omitted underacheiving slowpoke singles like "Self Made Man," "You Do Your Thing" and the gritty "Cold One Comin' On" would have provided some much appreciated balance).

For the fans who already own their previous albums, there's still plenty to entice here, however. A new track "She Don't Tell Me To" is currently zipping up the charts, while the heartwrenching "Didn't I" from the We Were Soldiers soundtrack finally appears on a Montgomery Gentry album, as does the humorous 2001 holiday single "Merry Christmas From The Family" which concludes this set.

Overall, Something To Be Proud Of is an energetic, engaging collection of hits. Its contents were custom made for blasting in the car.

These guys are consistently putting out some of the best country music today. Even if you aren't a hardcore country music fan you owe it to yourself to check these guys out - their accessibly southern-rock style sound is very appealing. Like most of their CDs there isn't a single "filler" song here - its all good from beginning to end.

Crank it up and annoy the PETA crowd who wants to convict Troy without a trial.

Eddie & Troy - You've done it again. You boys never stop amazing me. Me and my husband can relate to every song you've ever done! From Hilbilly shoes, try walking a mile in our shoes - you'll see it's very similar! She couldn't change me - yes I've tried to change him - it just doesn't work! Still love him and no he didn't change. If you ever stop loving me - God only knows we'd be lost without each other! Something to be proud of - It just says it all! Gone - well that one just gets us in a drinking mood!! Hell Yeah - WHEW!! He's definatley got the redneck attitude and of course I always got the don't mess with me attitude (I danced on the pool table to this one!) Speed - just a great tune and hope we never have to live that one! My town - Oh Boy. Well, we loved this one so much the bar in our house is called "Our Town" Come on over to Our Town anytime! Daddy won't sell the farm - Our roots run that deep! And finally SHE DON'T TELL ME TO! Holy Cow - You guys have no idea what that does to us. It's like you wrote it just for Tracy & Kevin!!! I can't go a day without hearing it, and love it more and more everytime I hear it. I know you boys are just getting started and look forward to hearing what you have coming up next - Although it's going to be tough to top Something To Be Proud Of! You guys are like are family - your in our house day after day! Keep it up guys - Your faithful and dedicated fans - Tracy & Kevin Loomis! -UNDERGROUND MEMBER

Good country duo next to Brooks N Dunn display their greatest hits here.Like many hits albums fans get upset with lack of previous hits.With this cd here the one missing is "Cold One Coming On" from the Carrying On album.But im not gonna snap like George A. Osmer's review did on Sony's products.(check the angry dudes words)The other odd choice is the song "Merry Christmas From The Family".It's a great song, it fits M&G perfect.But why ruin a hits collection with holiday music.Its not Jingle Bells or Oh Holy Night but still.My favorite song is "Gone" which is the most catchy song on here.Enjoy.

Attack...okay?
It's a good album for as long you like montgomery gentry. Listening to it you will notice that this cd only compiles true favorites of the recent years, and done so without getting repetitive. "Christmas with the family" (track 14) is one of the funniest country songs i have heard in quite a while. Almost worth buying the cd for this track alone!

In my opinion, Something to be proud of: the best of 1999-2005, is a album that is definately something to be proud of. From the smokey bar rooms to the bright lights and the big stage, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Lee Gentry have definately made their mark on the country music scene. They have filled a spot in country music that they can indeed call their own. The sound that they have put out there in country music has not been heard since the times of the original outlaws of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. I think personally that country music has been on the boring side of things without the power of the guitar there for many of years, and now as you listen to the radio you hear the guitar coming back and it seems that they are trying to keep up with Montgomery Gentry.
The Something to be proud of album is one of them albums that you just don't want to take out of the cd player. Every song on the album just keeps you going. Need a little something to make a boring trip a little bit better?? Pop in that album and the next thing you know is DANG!!! we are here already? I think it's that good.
Even with the Christmas song, "Merry Christmas from the Family" on it even gets you into the christmas season. The sad thing is about that song is that there are people out there that some will admit to it and some won't, that they actually have family members that are indeed like that in the song.
Didn't I, to me is a very touching song. I have to family members that served in the milatary, my father was in Vietnam, and my grandfather was in Korea. To me I think of both of them when I listen to it. Didn't I was also played at my grandfathers funeral. I just could not go without thinking of him and how much he put forth into that war.
My Town, well, Eddie, I'm sorry but it's my town too!! You gotta share!! HA! HA! The song to me is indeed about my town. To the people that listen to it, or even see the video, it's not just about Danville, and Lexington, Kentucky, it's about their towns too. You can sit back and think of how proud you are of the town that you came from, no matter how big or how small of a town you come from, to you, it your town.
Something to be proud of is another song that is sentimental. Referring back to my father and grandfather again, I sat there and listen to there stories and I seen pictures, but it's memories that I cherish for the rest of my life.
The Whole album is something that don't need to be kept UNDERGROUND, it needs to go on and be put at #1. #2 just isn't good enough for a album with all these hits on it. By far it's the best one out there. Not to slight any of the other albums. All of there albums are worthy of being put on a greatest hits cd, but I dont think it would fit all onto one cd!! If you like the Greatest Hits Cd, you may just wanna go out and pick up a there other albums too... To Montgomery Gentry... Keep it up... Keep it real and from the heart.