Dierks Bentley: Greatest Hits - Every Mile a Memory

iTunes Review

Sure this has all been said before, that it seems premature for Dierks Bentley to bust out a greatest hits collection after only three albums and a five-year tenure as a major label country star. But as with most Music City hits compilations, this baby comes with two awesome bonus cuts (and some live songs chosen by Bentley's fan club). "With The Band" is an upbeat, banjo-laden ditty with a funny narrative about the adventures of a teenage music fan who barges the backstage of his favorite band's show, dodging security guards, roadies and groupies. But Bentley's swooning cover of Radney Foster's "Sweet & Wild" takes the cake. A more amorous outing with fawning lyrics, it's an upgrade of the original with more banjo and fluid pedal steel that slides and bends in all the right places. Except for 2005's "Domestic, Light and Cold," Bentley's chart toppers are here, and although the man can rock (and rock well), it's interesting that the crux of his first five No. 1 hits is balladry. Overall, this well rounded compilation more than does the job. And with the bonus songs and live stuff, it's almost like getting half of a new album.