Personnel: Joe Don Rooney (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Larry Beaird (acoustic guitar, banjo); Dann Huff, Jerry McPherson, Tom Bukovac, George Marinelli Jr., Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Jonathan Yudkin (mandolin, violin, fiddle, viola, cello, strings); Alyssa Park, John Wittenberg, Connie Ellisor, Karen Winkelmann, Roberto Cani, Peter Kent, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, Carl Gorodetzky, Pamela Sixfin, Armen Garabedian, Alan Umstead, Josephina Vergara, David Angell, Catherine Umstead, Cate Myer, Charlie Bisharat, Mario Diaz de Leon, Tereza Stanislav (violin); Suzie Katayama, Larry Corbett, Daniel Smith (cello); Nashville String Machine (strings, brass); Mark Douthit, Sam Levine , Denis Solee (saxophone); Jeff Bailey , Mike Haynes , Steve Patrick (trumpet); Barry Green (trombone); Steve Nathan (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, keyboards); John Gilutin, Gordon Mote (piano); Brian Siewert, Tim Akers, Charles Judge (keyboards); Jay DeMarcus, Mike Brignardello, Joe Chemay (bass instrument); Chris McHugh, Lonnie Wilson, Keith Carlock, Shannon Forrest (drums); Eric Darken (percussion).
Audio Mixers: Justin Niebank; Marty Williams; Steve Marcantonio.
Arrangers: Mervyn Warren; Jonathan Yudkin; David Campbell.
Five albums into their career, Rascal Flatts are among the most popular bands in the solo artist-driven Nashville landscape, their high-energy modern bluegrass appealing to the same audience that enjoys Big N' Rich or Gretchen Wilson. The 13-track GREATEST HITS VOLUME 1 features seven number one country hits and fan favorites like their countrified cover of Tom Cochrane's 1980s rock hit, "Life Is A Highway." An early limited edition version adds a second disc featuring three traditional Christmas songs.
Rascal Flatts sold more albums than any other country band of the 2000s, but even so, there's no denying that they're a quintessential singles act -- which makes this first compilation of hits most welcome. Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 contains 13 tracks, which is enough to include all the major hits from "Praying for Daylight" to "What Hurts the Most" but not quite enough to cover every charting single they've had. Surprisingly, there are some pretty big hits, like "Me and My Gang" and "Take Me There" missing, but their absence isn't enough to keep this from being a good collection of highlights from Rascal Flatts' first five albums. [That said, the bonus disc of three holiday tunes included in the initial pressings of the album is a bit too mercenary for its own good, emphasizing the holiday release of Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 more than the music.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize