Continuing to go her own way on Gospel Plow, Elizabeth Cook is another artist who's too rock for country and too country for rock, although in the music business climate of 2012 she may be too country for country, too. As you might expect from the title of this mini-album, Gospel Plow is a record of sacred music, although it's marked by Cook's own inimitable mix of styles and features at least one track that will surprise almost any country fan, not matter how alt. The songs are mostly familiar, although the arrangements are anything but…

Elizabeth Cook comes to country music naturally; her parents had a working honky tonk band and her first public performance was on-stage with them when she was just a tyke…

Lee Greenwood scored 19 Top Ten country hits on the Billboard charts between 1982 and 1988 while contracted to MCA Records, and 12 of them are included on this midline-priced best-of, including ten of his 12 Top Five hits, among them all seven of his chart-toppers. Especially because country albums tend to be on the skimpy side (Greenwood's 1985 Greatest Hits LP had only ten tracks), this is an unusually good selection for a discount record. Of course, it includes Greenwood's signature song, "God Bless the U.S.A.," which was given a renewed burst of popularity in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This is not a complete collection of all of Greenwood's hits or even all of his MCA hits, but it presents most of his best-known material at a reasonable price.

To get an idea of exactly how many Ronnie Milsap collections are on the market, just turn to the back page of the booklet for RCA/Legacy's 2006 double-disc set The Essential Ronnie Milsap, where it lists other Ronnie albums you might also enjoy. There are ten listed, all but one of them a compilation (that would be his very, very good 2006 comeback, My Life). Which begs the natural question, is The Essential Ronnie Milsap needed? Especially since there is already another compilation called The Essential Ronnie Milsap (dating from 1995), and there already was an excellent double-disc set called 40 #1 Hits released six years earlier? The answer is, yes it is, particularly since 40 #1 Hits has fallen out of print. Of course, it also helps that Essential is an expertly chosen and sequenced collection of Milsap's best work, from 1973's "(All Together Now) Let's Fall Apart" and running all the way to 1989's "A Woman in Love."

Walking Away a Winner is the rocked-up/pop side of Kathy Mattea. With records by Mary Chapin Carpenter gathering steam as well as those of Beth Nielsen Chapman, Lucinda Williams getting some notice, and Bonnie Raitt riding the very top of the charts over the previous two years, Mattea took a listen and apparently liked what she heard. There are layers and layers of guitars on the album, and nowhere are they borne out more than on the title track that opens the album. With producer Josh Leo and a deck of tough songs, Mattea showed a side her country audience hadn't yet seen, and one that the adult contemporary and emerging AAA formats could embrace.

The year 1989 was awesome for Kathy Mattea. Her brand of country-pop music began to evolve toward folk and Celtic-oriented influences, which were actually encouraged by her label – changes like this in Nash Vegas are few and far between – and what's more, it all translated in terms of chart success and record sales. A strong and indeed the first completely realized project of her career, Willow in the Wind boasted three hits, "Burnin' Old Memories," "Where've You Been," and "Come from the Heart." The hard honky tonk/West Texas swing of "Burnin' Old Memories," with its slightly rocked-up tempo, is more than just catchy; it's infectious.

Wynonna Judd's second album, Tell Me Why, is a more confident and diverse collection than her debut. Drawing from sources as varied as gospel, folk, and blues-rock, Wynonna doesn't necessarily deliver a pure country album, but her blend of roots genres does qualify as a cleverly constructed contemporary country record. The selection of material is first-rate, but what makes Tell Me Why her best solo effort is how she ties all of the songs together with her assured – and surprisingly subtle – vocals.

Just like the title says – 17 of Fricke's biggest hits from her the early '80s, including the number ones "He's A Heartache (Looking for a Place to Happen)", "It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy", "Don' Worry 'Bout Me Baby", and "Your Heart's Not In It".

Collection contains all of the highlights and big hits from Wynonna's three albums (Wynonna, Tell Me Why, Revelations), including "Tell Me Why," "Rock Bottom," "Girls with Guitars," and the number one singles "She Is His Only Need," "I Saw the Light," and "No One Else on Earth."