You don't have to get very far into Alan Jackson's splendid second anthology of hits before you're struck by how well the rangy Georgian has built his catalogue and how beautifully Keith Stegall continually produces his songs, filling the instrumental breaks with unexpectedly creative solos. While Jackson's choice of cover songs is usually inspired ("Pop-A-Top," "Little Bitty"), he's a deft writer, alternating his tongue-in-cheek, Sheriff Andy Taylor persona with his "just a singer of simple songs" earnestness, lacing it all with an unfettered delivery and a Haggardesque dedication to the bedrock honky-tonk sound. There are times when he edges too close to formula, running the romanticized, small-town, cornbread-and-chicken conceits ("Where I Come From") into the ground. But then he quickly redeems himself with a lip-tremblingly good "Drive" or "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)." This package consists of two discs, 16 hits and two new cuts filling the first and an unnecessary and somewhat inferior eight album tracks occupying the second. Of the two new songs, the emotional husband-and-wife ballad "Remember When" handily outdistances the too-trite "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" with perennial smart-ass Jimmy Buffett. Jackson's too good an artist to settle for such an easy reach, but hey, let's cut him a little slack. He's paid his dues. --Alanna Nash
A few decades ago nearly every country singer had at least one--often more--gospel albums in their catalog. Today, aside from gospel veteran Amy Grant, who balances the sacred and secular, and Randy Travis, that concept has long faded. For Alan Jackson, however, treating the musical past as present has been a way of life, as it is with these 15 timeless hymns from his youth. Recorded with just two acoustic guitars and a piano, it was originally a private Christmas present to his mother. The spare instrumentation is surprisingly robust behind his flawless readings of "I'll Fly Away," "Softly and Tenderly," "How Great Thou Art," "Are You Washed in the Blood?," and "The Old Rugged Cross," all as beguilingly unpretentious as any of his country hits. Instead of an all-star duet, wife Denise and daughters Mattie and Ali join in on "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." In the end, what began as a private bequest becomes a moving, eloquent gift to Jackson's entire audience. --Rich Kienzle
