The Greatest Hits

Album Review

Greatest Hits is the first collection of Lonestar's greatest hits, released after four albums and one holiday record. Not all of their singles are here — the holiday tunes, of course, are left behind, as are smaller singles — but all the big songs are here, highlighted by "Tequila Talking," "Everything's Changed," "What About Now," "Smile," and the big crossover hit "Amazed." These tunes, along with the nine other songs that comprise this record, illustrate that even though Lonestar proudly takes its name from Texas, the band doesn't belong to that state's legacy of musical mavericks. They're a straightforward bunch, whether they're singing ballads or midtempo country-rockers, and even when there's plenty of twang in the voice and the guitars, the melodies are firmly in the pop-leaning country mainstream. Still, that twang counts for something — at its best, it made Lonestar's music seem rootsier, more real than many of its peers, and while it wasn't always consistent, the band did make some very good singles that may not have been the best of contemporary country in the late '90s, but captured the sound of the time well. They're all here on this fine retrospective.