John Michael Montgomery Album: “The Very Best of John Michael Montgomery”

Description :

Personnel includes: John Michael Montgomery (vocals); Bobby All, Billy Joe Walker Jr., Darrel Scott, Michael Spriggs (acoustic guitar); Brent Rowan, Bobby Terry, Mason Greenberg, Kenny Greenberg, John McFee, Dan Huff, Larry Byrom (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (pedal steel guitar); Tommy Spurlock (steel guitar); Rob Hajacos (fiddle); Terry McMillan (harmonica, percussion); Kirk "Jellyroll" Johnson (harmonica); Reese Wynans (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Steve Nathan, Gordon Mote (keyboards); Willie Weeks, Glen Worf, Mike Brignardello (bass); Lonnie Wilson, Stephen Brewster, Eddie Bayers (drums); Chip Davis, John Wesley Ryles, Michael Jones, Curtis Young, Harry Stinsos, Dennis Wilson (background vocals). <p>Producers: Doug Johnson, Scott Hendricks, Csaba Petocz, Garth Flindis, Buddy Cannon. <p>Compilation producers: James Austin, Paige Levy. <p>Recorded between 1992 & 2002. Includes liner notes by Robert K. Oermann. <p>Though he has always essentially been a new traditionalist country singer in the vein of Aaron Tippin and George Strait, John Michael Montgomery found his greatest success with smooth, romantic ballads that recall the work of Glenn Frey as much as that of Merle Haggard. THE VERY BEST OF JOHN MICHAEL MONTGOMERY lives up to its title by including most of the singer's finest and highest-charting singles in both styles, in the process collecting a body of work that virtually defines the "new country" phenomenon. Montgomery has the kind of soothing pipes and perfect phrasing that endear him even to ardent country-haters, and his material has the kind of straight-for-the-gut forthrightness that is sure to attract anyone tired of the irony-drenched hipper-than-thou-isms of contemporary pop. In addition to the hits, the package includes two newly recorded tracks, which easily measure up to the rest of the material here with their characteristic mix of rootsy instrumentation and wonderfully tear-jerking melodrama.

From his debut hit "Life's A Dance" in late 1992 through the rest of the '90s, John Michael Montgomery (with his easy going baritone) was one of country music's most reliable hitmakers. Over the past four years, however, he's had but one top ten hit, the chart topping heart tugger "The Little Girl." With his recent singles struggling, a hits collection was the logical choice for Montgomery's next release. A sequel to 1997's GREATEST HITS made the most sense, as Montgomery has ten top 20 hits not included on that first set. Instead, Warner Brothers went with this career encompassing VERY BEST OF that contains 11 of the 14 recordings already found on the strong selling GREATEST HITS.

Among the hits not included on either collection are the engaging "Ain't Got Nothin' On Us," "Love Working On You," and "Hello L.O.V.E." All are uptempo romps that would have contributed nicely to the ballad-heavy VERY BEST OF. The sequencing on VERY BEST OF distorts the musical nonbalance even more, with three fast tunes leading off, followed by a slew of slow stuff. The collection concludes with two new ballads: the paternal reflection "Cool" and the pledge of devotion "One Day Less." While pleasant, neither track seems likely to reverse Montgomery's recent chart struggles. Ultimately, while it contains more tracks and covers a longer period of Montgomery's recording career, this VERY BEST OF is not as enjoyable to listen to as his earlier GREATEST HITS.

This CD is awesome from beginning to end. It has all of his greatest songs here, from "I Love The Way You Love Me" and "Life's A Dance" on his debut to the beautiful ballad from his latest album, "Pictures", called "Til Nothing Comes Between Us". His career has undeservedly struggled the past few years, and radio has practically ingnored him, despite him putting out his best music on "Home To You", "Brand New Me", and "Pictures". I like the two new cuts, "Cool" and "One Day Less". My personal favorites are "I Swear", "The Little Girl", "How Was I To Know", "Home To You", "Angel In My Eyes", "Hold On To Me", and "Til Nothing Comes Between Us". It may be a little heavy on the ballads, but that's what John Michael Montgomery does best. I thought that none of his last three albums sold as well as they should've, and I hope he can revive his struggling career with this awesome set. He's got one fan here who hopes he can. Keep trying, John Michael.

This guy today is so underrated it is practically sad how just a few years back he was selling up to 4 million albums per shot with releases like Kickin it Up and Life's a Dance then for some reason around 1999 or 2000 his career started kind of struggling as far as big hits go I really would like to see one of the two new cuts off this collection reach at least the top 10 because John Michael Montgomery is a great singer and his fans have not gone away there all still listening the thing is radio needs to give him a chance. This is very similar to 1997's Greatest Hits but this includes more hits ranging also between 1998 and 2002. Every song is nice to listen to and its real genuine quality not sappy country pop. To bad there was no Beer and Bones on here then it would been even more better but it is a great collection buy it. It is worth it.