Greatest Hits (CD - 2003)

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

As an inheritor of the school-of-hard-knocks-persona of Reba MacEntire, Jo Dee Messina has perfected the art of appealing to both sexes. Her first greatest-hits compilation neatly summarizes her ability to interpret tough-but-tender, THELMA & LOUISE-type themes in a way guaranteed to bring out the protective instincts in guys and recognition and empathy in women.

Time and again on GREATEST HITS Messina hits the ball right out of the park on songs such as "Heads Carolina, Tails California," "Bye Bye," and, in perhaps the ur-Messina performance, "Stand Beside Me," with its chorus that also functions as a declaration of intent--"I want a man that stands beside me/ Not in front of or behind meà" Messina is a class act--you won't find any dance club remixes here--and about as country as Nashville gets nowadays. Unlike some of her contemporaries she's kept her sound slick without becoming too glossy, and her songwriting choices remain catchy and hook-laden. Even on the ostensibly pop-oriented "That's the Way It Is" Messina remains easy to listen to without falling into the easy-listening trap, and that's the story throughout GREATEST HITS. minimize