Customer Reviews

Ultimate Collection

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

 

 

this is definitely not the best single-disc survey of Merle Haggard's career by a long shot, since it barely touches his greatest 60s/early 70s Capitol recordings nor his popular 80s Epic singles, but instead dwells on his late 70s MCA songs...to date, by far the greatest single Merle Haggard purchase is the "Down the Road" box set, and it is the only one that adequately covers his entire multi-label career

This CD brings back memories of the earlier Merle Haggard years. Merle's voice is still the same powerful mezmorizing delight. Every Hag CD is a creative work of art - his voice unique and spell binding. His story telling abilities grab at your heart and are always something you can relate to.

Of the many Merle Haggard albums, this one is the BEST. Among 20 great hits, it includes the song "Leonard" that is hard to find on any MH album. You will definitely want to listen to this collection over and over!

Is there really such a thing as a bad Merle Haggard song? I'm not the most rabid of country music fans, but if you don't like Merle Haggard, you don't like fried chicken on Sunday. Each of the songs Hag made on this set are quality, done with feeling, but it's pretty audacious of the company to call this "ultimate". Not fair to new Haggard fans. Where is "Silver Wings", "Branded Man", "Today I Started Loving Her Again"? There are others. Number one in Hag's heyday meant only #1 on the country chart, but that was sufficient and the missing songs were way up there on that chart as country music came into its own. You can buy all of his works if you like, but you will probably be better served to go for "20 Greatest Hits" or even "40 #1 Hits" if you can't get enough of this country music giant. Shop before you buy.

What really distinguishes this from other Hag CDs is the sound quality. The detailed sonics enable you to hear each instrument in the band clearly (and what a good band he always had). And Merle's wonderful voice comes through better than any of the Merle albums I've heard. I refer to this CD as "my country music collection", since I don't often listen to any other artist in the genre. 'Cuz it's got more soul than "soul music".

Too bad there are only 5 stars available to give this CD; it deserves a whole sky full of stars. This CD is of superb quality and is authentic country music. Merle Haggard's rich, perfect voice with top-of-the-line musicians tells you that the talent it took to make these songs is atronomical.

This CD is smack full of awesome songs. "That's the Way Love Goes" is absolutely the most beautiful song ever. "Poncho and Lefty" is the cutest and most fun song that you can listen to all day. Just to name a few of the others: "Okie from Musgokee", "My own Kind of Hat", "Red Bandana", "Leonard", "Rainbow Stew", "If We Make it Through December". That isn't all of them, but this CD is one that you will want to listen to the whole thing. It is true country that you can really appreciate.

It's hard to say who my "Very Favorite" country music singer is. But of all those "Very Favorites", Merle Haggard is definitely one of them.

Jeeezey creeezy, I'd been looking for "My Own Kind of Hat" for a long time, until I did an Amazon crawl and found it! Yes, the other songs are coooool too!! Thanks Amazon!

the more i listen to him the more i like him - very artful - very soulful - he's the real mccoy.

Same depth and grit of the voice of Johnny Cash in a reflection of long last looks that everyone can relate to, and should, over the course of a lifetime.

Great duets with Willie Nelson in that they complement each other so well, each with a tone uniquely his own, but together scour the envelope of options and perspectives that touch the inner reaches of even male emotions, so often hard to reach.

This is a really good disc, but DO NOT buy this set based on the name of it. It is not the ULTIMATE by a long shot. If you only want to buy one Haggard cd of greatest hits, you must buy 20 Greatest hits(Original Recordings) by Capital. If that leaves you hungry for more, and you still only want one additional disc, then go ahead and get this one. After that, if you still want to pace your self gradually, start buying the theme cds Cheatin, Drinkin, Hurtin and Prison, and in that order. Or all at once if you can. Even if you were to go after the box set afterwards, you would still get many great songs you would not already have. That is the exact route I took and I could not be happier with my Merle Collection. Sure, you end up with some songs you already had, but it is well worth it for the ones you did not have. The forth disc of the Box set is sort of similar to this ULTIMATE collection, and the Hurtin and Prison discs are,for the most part, covered in the box set as well. So if you absolutley had to cut three of them out, delete the ULTIMATE Collection, Hurtin and Prison, and go with the 20 Greatest hits, Cheatin, Drinkin, and the box set, entitled Down Every Road. If you were able to start with the box set, Great! Then, you could avoid buying 20 Greatest Hits also. But do not be fooled, within Cheatin and Drinkin await some absolute greats that sould have been on the box set in place of a few others.