Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Hits

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a great collection, no question, however there are a lot of songs that are missing from here, "The Red Strokes" for instance. What this album does is presents the entire original 18 songs from "The Hits" album with other songs released since that time. The focus though is primarily on the first half of his career. The DVD features videos for every song on the album, using live clips or TV show appearences for the songs that didn't have videos made.
Last year Garth released "The Entertainer" set which included all the missing videos from this set. It also included the full length concerts from which many of these clips are pulled.
Contrary to popular belief the four new tracks on this set are not the first songs we've gotten since his retirement. In 2005 he released his "Lost Sessions" which were all brand new songs recorded in 2005, they may have been written prior to '05, but they were all recorded in '05, and a great album that was too.
Garth has always been about selling records, so this set should come as no surprise to anyone. For the price you can't argue with it and even though it is missing some great songs, what you get here is Classic Garth.

My apologies for the length. Lots to say about my favorite artist in what probably will be my only review of any of his material (at least for a while).

His only greatest hits compilation was "The Hits" from 1994.

Since then, he has reached the 100 million units mark in the United States (the second of four acts to be certified at that mark and one of two solo artists, the other, of course, being Elvis Presley). He has toured the world and performed in sold-out venues in over 20 countries. He has broken more records than can be compiled in one list. Now, finally, he has released a compilation that covers his entire career - to date, that is. What a collection it is.

For anyone who has forgotten why he remains one of the most popular artists in U.S. music history, one listen through the two-disc CD set should serve as a good reminder. There are no weak tracks (not that there would be in a greatest-hits collection), including the new material. His current single, "More Than a Memory," is included along with three additional songs, all of which stand up well against songs that have had 15 years to mature. While the current single is very good, perhaps my favorite of the new material is the bonus track, "Leave a Light On." Simple arrangement, dead-on vocals...Ultimate Garth.

In case that was not enough, Garth throws in a companion DVD. Think of it as the video version of the compilation, as every track from the CD version is presented in video - whether it is the original music video of the track or a special television performance. Recall that Garth did not produce original music videos for all of his singles - oftentimes, his production team would release a concert performance or concert montage to serve as a music video for country music television. Regardless, every single track has an accompanying video, which I found truly amazing. There is a little duplication of effort here, though - you will find some of these same videos available in the second "Limited Series" box set as well as in the original video compilations from some 15 years ago. You do, however, get brand new material, which I thought was really cool. No "recording room" videos, either, with the new material - these are real music videos. Don't miss the video for "Midnight Sun" - it is a riot.

If you have not seen it yet, catch the current video for "More Than a Memory" circulating on country music television. Amazing. Simple. Direct. Dark. Emotional. The video matches the song brilliantly, and adds that "third dimension" that Garth always likes to put into his videos.

All for about $12? You can't beat it.

One other thing. In one of my Listmania lists, I talk about full-length albums. To paraphrase, a good full-length album, to me, has a life of its own and is very much more than the sum of its parts. You listen to it from front to back and hear something on top of the individual tracks - be it a story, a theme, or some other thread that holds the songs together. These two CDs are just that. The tracks are not presented in chronological order, as many would do. The tracks are very specifically ordered, and makes for a front-to-back listen that is amazing. Do me a favor - when you listen to it, do not pop it in the CD drive and hit "shuffle." Instead, listen to it as it was intended - from track 1 to track 34 (or 36, depending on how you count). You'll love the collection even more.

There is enough new stuff to make this a "must own" for Garth fans, no question. For people who do not own any Garth material in their collections: start here. There is a lot of other stuff that you are missing, to be sure...but this should get you hooked! :-)

Five stars...no question...not just for the content, but additionally for the value. Thanks, Garth.

1990 "Not Counting You" #2
1992 "Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy?" (w/Chris LeDoux & on Chris' CD) #7
1993 "Somewhere Other Than the Night" #1
1994 "One Night a Day" #7
1994 "Hard Luck Woman" #67 Country, #45 Hot 100, #28 AC
1994 "The Red Strokes" #49
1995 "She's Every Woman" #1
1996 "It's Midnight Cinderella" #5
1996 "That Ol' Wind" #4
1998 "She's Gonna Make It" #2
1998 "Burnin' the Roadhouse Down" (w/Steve Wariner & on Steve's CD) #28
1998 "Where Your Road Leads" (w/Trisha Yearwood) #18
1998 "You Move Me" #3
1998 "It's Your Song" #9
1999 "Lost in You" (credited to Chris Gaines) #62 Country, #5 Hot 100
1999 "It Don't Matter to the Sun" (credited to Chris Gaines) #24 Country
2000 "Do What You Gotta Do" #13
2000 "Katie Wants a Fast One" (w/Steve Wariner & on Steve's CD) #22
2001 "Wild Horses" #7 (originally on No Fences, 10 anniversary remix released to radio)
2001 "Thicker Than Blood" #18
2002 "Squeeze Me In" (w/Trisha Yearwood) #16
2002 "Why Ain't I Running" #24
2006 "Love Will Always Win" (w/Trisha Yearwood) #23
2006 "That Girl Is a Cowboy" #34

Hope this list helps someone to make them a companion CD to go with this already great 2CD/1DVD set. Other artists and their labels could take note from Garth on how to give their fans their money's worth.

I'd would have loved Hard Luck Woman to be on the CD along with Garth in full KISS makeup. That would have been a cool video. I'm glad to see the original video for In Another Eyes on the set. Trisha looks so beautiful in it.

Of course Garth has had other hits packages but this one takes the cake, mostly due to the DVD with all his music videos, 33 of them. And at only $13, this is a very generous set. You are getting a lot of music including 4 new songs and his biggest hit yet, More than a Memory included. I'm sure he's going to sell millions of this ultimate set

I wasn't a big Garth fan in the day...but I picked this up and what a ton of great songs are on the two music discs..wow! The DVD is a real eye opener..I understand why this guy was so popular...he is a whirling dervish of a live enetertainer..truly magical and this is a ridiculously full package of songs and DVD for under $15..any ..ANY of the discs on their own would be worth that money ..all three terrific.

Because Garth Brooks has so many hits, it had to be quite the feat, but they did an excellent job of putting this collection together. The set contains a vast collection of his work. The DVD video collection could have been marketed as a stand alone and is worth the price of the set itself.

Since I don't have any of Garth's past albums, I really wish "Somewhere Other Than the Night" and "Not Counting You" were included in the collection, but it includes Shameless, The Dance, Rodeo, What She's Doing Now, Friends In Low Places, Papa Loved Mama, If Tomorrow Never Comes, To Make You Feel My Love, We Shall Be Free, Two Pina Coladas, The Thunder Rolls, Much Too Young, Unanswered Prayers, and many others along with 3 new tracks (More Than A Memory, Midnight Sun and Workin' For A Livin') for a total of 33 tracks.

For someone who buys a lot of albums but not generally hit collections, it was a stretch for me to buy this. I'm glad I did because I feel as if I've won the jackpot.

Garth...what can one say that hasn't already been said. A must for any GB fan. Hightly recommended for the 12 disc CD exchanger in the car. Love him!

I really love this album. I'm a huge Garth fan and have all of his cds. This cd reviews some of those songs plus some new ones which I really like too. This is typical Garth Brooks.

I just bought this for 11.88 , has his best hits ever plus more than a memory ( great song ) plus it has 33 music video's . I cant think of anything that would make this a better deal. well worth the money!

I'm gonna buy this, only because I have to have "More than a Memory" in my collection for those DJ gigs where country music is a must. What kind of DJ would I be without that song? However, I'm saddened that for those of us who already own The Hits, we have to buy them again. I'm not sure what the purpose of that is. He could have used the space for those great missing tracks already mentioned in the previous reviews. And i could care less about the videos. I'm not a video watcher. All I know is I'm paying an album price for 4 songs.... just like many others.