Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (CD - 2003)

Personnel: Alan Jackson (vocals, guitar); Jimmy Buffett (vocals); Bruce Watkins, Greenwood Hart (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin, Lloyd Green (steel guitar); Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Hargus "Pig" Robbins (piano); Glenn Worf (electric bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); John Wesley Ryles (background vocals).

Recorded at Emerald Entertainment's Tracking Room, The Sound Station, East Iris, Nashville, Tennessee; Shrimpboat Sound, Key West, Florida; McClear Digital, Toronto, Canada.

"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Country Song. The song was also nominated for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals.

Alan Jackson was one of the leading lights of contemporary country music in the '90s and the key to his success is that he managed to be straightforwardly traditional without sacrificing his taste for slightly mawkish sentimentality. The first tendency got him respect, the second sold him records, and if the latter is emphasized on the 18-track Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, that's because that's what hit the charts, particularly as he settled into his role as a veteran during the second half of the '90s, the period that this volume covers. There's little faulting this as a collection of hits, since it picks up precisely where 1995's Greatest Hits leaves off, then runs through all the hits in chronological order, adding two new songs -- the cheerful Jimmy Buffett duet "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" and the slow, nostalgic "Remember When" -- at the end. This does its job right, functioning as a good, thorough collection of hit singles, though it has to be said that taken as an album, the sentimental stuff does weigh a little heavy and it's hard not to wish there were a few more hardcore honky tonk numbers like "Pop a Top," just to give the album some variety and a quicker pace, but it's hard to fault this as a collection of big hits. [Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 was released initially with an eight-track bonus disc, containing a bunch of album tracks, relying heavily on 1994's Who I Am, along with two tracks from 2002's Drive. Not a bad bonus disc -- actually, it's pretty enjoyable -- but it's hardly a collection of rarities, either.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Anyone who earns a second volume of GREATEST HITS has obviously learned a thing or two about staying power and consistency of artistic vision. Such is the case with Alan Jackson, who appeared in the 1990s as mainstream country's alternative to the dominance of King Garth. His sound was still eminently accessible, but the faux-Springsteen drama of Kiss fan Garth's rock manque was eschewed for a more roots-oriented (though hardly traditionalist) sound. Things kick off nicely with the Cajun-flavored smash "Little Bitty," then giving way to the introspective, fiddle-laced country ballad "Everything I Love." Along the way, there's the pleasantly chugging, upbeat "It Must Be Love," the much-publicized post-9/11 song "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," thankfully absent of Toby Keith's contemporaneous jingoistic rancor, and the Jimmy Buffett-assisted party anthem "It's Five O' Clock Somewhere." Add a couple of unreleased tracks and a bonus disc of more obscure material, and you've got as good an introduction to Jackson's work as his first GREATEST HITS COLLECTION. minimize