Toby Keith Album: “Greatest Hits Vol. 1”

Toby Keith emerged in 1993 with the autographical hit "Should've Been A Cowboy." The rodeo's loss is country music's gain, as Keith has been one of its most dependable hitmakers over the past six years. This collection specializes in relationship songs, be it humorous ("You Ain't Much Fun"), reflective ("We Were in Love"), or wishful ("Dream Walkin'"). Best of all is the duet with Sting on "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" which hits divorce from a male perspective dead-on. Two new tracks provide some fresh variations on the Keith sound, with the lead-off single "Getcha Some" offering a dopey delivery reminiscent of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song ("Black Gold, Texas Tea"). It adds up to fourteen of the best of '90s country. Getcha Some today!

In the first part of his career, Toby established himself as a successful country singer and songwriter. His songs were all about relationships. There were no politics in his music back then - that came later.

This compilation is made up of twelve country hits, including nine number ones, from four of Toby Keith's first five albums (the Christmas album is un-represented) plus two then-new tracks recorded for the album. These two extra tracks are the first two tracks here and were presumably released to country radio stations in the hope that they would become hits for Toby. Good as they are, these two songs merely serve as a warm-up for the twelve that follow.

Among those twelve there are some truly magnificent songs including Should've been a cowboy.(the most famous song from this part of his career), Wish I didn't know now (about finding out something unpleasant), Who's that man (about an ex-wife being married to somebody else), You ain't much fun (about his partner making him work hard at home), A little less talk and a lot more action, Does that blue moon ever shine on you, I'm so happy I can' stop crying and We were in love.

Toby clearly showed during his earl years that he was a great songwriter. It was a brave decision to call this album Volume one, as there was no certainty that his career would last long enough to justify a second volume. When his career went through a quiet spell it looked like a foolish decision, but Toby's career recovered so much that he became a bigger star than ever before. A second volume of hits finally appeared in 2004.

This is one of the all-time best greatest hits collection of all time! I have only been a fan of Toby Keith for a couple of years, but when I bought this album, I realized that I knew all the songs, and loved them, but it hadn't dawned on me who was performing them (one of those "I didn't know he sang that song" moments)! It's worth buying just for "Getcha Some" and "If A Man Answers", which aren't available on any other Toby Keith album.

This is just a small sample of what he is capable of. There are a lot of great hits on this including "Dream Walkin" and "Should have been a cowboy". My favorite is "A little less talk and a lot more action". Definitely put this in your collection. It's worth it.

This CD includes all of Toby Keith's breakthrough hits like Who's That Man?, Dream Walking and many others that made him a brand name superstar. In later years, he would spread his wings and experiment with a harder rocking southern-rock sound, however this CD is traditional country music in the truest sense. This is not to say that it lacks energy, but it manifests itself in the form of well written songs that actually tell real-life stories. These can be found in such tracks as We were In Love, Who's That Man, and If A Man Answers. It even includes I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying, his duet with Sting! For those who have just discovered Toby Keith I highly recommend this. If you like Alan Jackson, George Jones and George Strait, you'll probably like this one. If you like your country music mixed with a little southern rock, I would not recommend this CD... maybe try his Greatest Hits Volume 2 or Honky Tonk University.