The Greatest Hits Collection

Brooks & Dunn's first hits collection is so overflowing with bona fide chart toppers that even two of the three bonus songs here became hits — the piano heavy ballad "He's Got You" and the boogie-woogie bouncing "Honky Tonk Truth" reached #2 and #3 (respectively) on the US Hot Country chart. "Days Of Thunder" didn't hit, but the song is still a great extra with its Bob Seger-esque balladry and good ol' boy lyrics that aren't afraid to admit that a man can love his truck as much as he loves his lady. Brooks & Dunn open the compilation with an outstanding rendition of the B.W. Stevenson/Daniel Moore hit from 1973, "My Maria," and this version also boasts the impressive elongated inflections on the chorus, just like the original. "Boot Scootin' Boogie" will make you want to don a huge Stetson, get your electric slide on, and party like it's 1992. (That's right; with this song Brooks & Dunn take the credit — or the blame — for igniting the line dancing craze of the early '90s.) "Little Miss Honky Tonk" ends the album with true Bakersfield grit that would have the late Buck Owens smiling down from his saloon in the sky.