The Essential Super Hits of the Charlie Daniels Band (CD - 2004)

Charlie Daniels: Charlie Daniels (vocals, guitar, fiddle); Pat McDonald, Mark Matejka, Bruce Brown (vocals, guitar); Taz Di Gregorio (vocals, piano, Hammond b-3 organ, electric keyboard); Charlie Hayward (bass guitar); Jack Gavin (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Lee Roy Parnell (vocals, guitar); Hal Ketchum, John Berry , Ray Benson (vocals); Keith Urban (guitar); Mandisa, Gordon Kennedy, Max Carl, Nirva Dorsaint, Angel Cruz, Michael Mellett, Carolyn Corlew, Chance Scoggins (background vocals).

Once you get around the fact that Koch's 2004 album The Essential Super Hits of the Charlie Daniels Band is in fact not a collection of original hit recordings but is instead a collection of new recordings cut by Daniels and his 2004 incarnation of the CDB, the album is actually pretty fun. The key is, unlike a lot of latter-day re-recordings, it doesn't sound like the band is going through the motions. Instead, Daniels and his band are having a great time running through "The South's Gonna Do It (Again)," "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," "Still in Saigon," "Uneasy Rider," and "Simple Man." While a couple of selections are a little dubious -- Skynyrd's "Freebird" doesn't need to be here and "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag" remains the rudest post-9/11 song this side of Ray Stevens' "Osama Yo Mama" -- this is overall a nifty little collection of new versions of familiar tunes. Don't mistake it for a hits collection; just think of it as a new album, and The Essential Super Hits will satisfy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize