Almost all of country music's heavies contribute to this two-disc set, and many of the greatest anthems are all present. Forty tracks in all, including 'Rhinestone Cowboy' by Glenn Campbell, Kenny Roger's 'Coward of the County', 'Ring of Fire' by Johnny Cash, 'Me & Bobby McGee' by Kris Kristofferson, Tammy Wynette's 'Stand by Your Man', Patsy Cline's 'Crazy', 'Achy Breaky Heart' (Billy Ray Cyrus), The Charlie Daniels Band's 'Devil Went Down to Georgia', 'I Will Always Love You' by Dolly Parton and Much More.

James Taylor stopped pushing himself into new musical and lyrical territories in the late '70s, so it doesn't come as a great surprise that Hourglass, his first studio album in six years, doesn't offer anything new – it's a collection of pleasant, melodic, simple songs about love, family, and social activism. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since Taylor has a gift for such material, and on Hourglass, he sounds as good as ever. The music, in many ways, has greater depth than previous records, since it features cameos from such heavy hitters as Stevie Wonder, Yo-Yo Ma, Shawn Colvin, Michael Brecker, Mark O'Connor, and Branford Marsalis. There are a few songs that fall a little flat, failing to make much of an impression one way or the other, but on the whole, Hourglass is a nice addition to his catalog.

"Fearless was an album full of magic and curiosity, the bliss and devastation of youth. It was the diary of the adventures and explorations of a teenage girl who was learning tiny lessons with every new crack in the facade of the fairytale ending she'd been shown in the movies. I'm thrilled to tell you that my new version of Fearless is done and will be with you soon. It's called Fearless (Taylor's Version) and it includes 27 songs."

Tony Joe White's second Warner Bros. album is an awesome, exquisite musical jewel and a departure from most of the attributes for which he is best known, from songs like "Polk Salad Annie." Acoustic textured for much of its length and built on a close, intimate sound overall, The Train I'm On is permeated with the dark side of White's usual swamp rock sound, filled with songs about unsettled loves and lives, and men caught amid insoluble situations. Betraying surprising vulnerability for much of its length, even on songs like "If I Ever Saw a Good Thing" and "300 Pounds of Hongry" (among the few full band numbers here, with a gorgeous sax solo by Charles Chalmers on the former), he shows off an emotional complexity that wasn't always obvious on his earlier work, only really cutting loose boldly on "Even Trolls Love Rock and Roll" and a tiny handful of other cuts. The rest is dark, pensive, soulful bluesy rock, highlighted by some bristling acoustic guitar work (check out "As the Crow Flies") and superb singing throughout ("The Migrant" is worth the price of admission by itself).

Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 is a good 12-track collection of Linda Ronstadt's biggest hits from the early '70s, beginning with the Stone Poneys' "Different Drum" and running through "Tracks of My Tears," from 1975's Prisoner in Disguise. In between, all of her best-known songs – "You're No Good," "When Will I Be Loved," "Heat Wave" – are included, plus selected minor hits, making it an excellent overview of her peak years.

By concentrating on his biggest straight country hits for Capitol and Dot Records ("Tips of My Fingers," "Yesterday, When I Was Young," "Thank God and Greyhound," "Come Live with Me") and sidestepping many of the novelty numbers that were associated with Hee-Haw, the 14-song Greatest Hits makes a case for Roy Clark's talents as songwriter and performer, providing a good introduction to his career.

Up! is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer Shania Twain. It was released on November 18, 2002, by Mercury Nashville. Three versions of the album were released: a pop version (red disc), a country version (green disc), and an international version (blue disc) in the style of Indian film music; all three discs contain exactly the same track listing and feature distinctly identifiable picture labels (for example, Twain sports a cowboy hat on the green country disc.) In the U.S., Up! debuted at #1. On September 23, 2004, the RIAA certified Up! at 11× Platinum, giving her the distinction of being the only female artist to have three consecutive Diamond albums released in the United States.

Superstars of Country [Time Life] Review by Al Campbell
Time Life's Superstars of Country spotlights original hits recorded in the '60s, '70s and '80s by the artists who made them famous. This rewarding, but bulky, ten-CD set highlights 150 chart-topping tracks that include Kenny Rogers, Alabama, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Ronnie Milsap, Glen Campbell, John Denver and Tanya Tucker. Time Life also released these discs as individual volumes for those not willing to shell out the big bucks for this gigantic set.

Best known for her Grammy-winning smash "Rose Garden", Lynn Anderson was one of the most popular female country singers of the early '70s, helped by her regular exposure on national television. "Rose Garden" is a 20 tracks compilation includes hits mostly from her 1970s heyday, such as "Top of the World", "Cry", "Keep Me In Mind", "What a Man My Man Is", "How Can I Unlove You", and "Rose Garden".

Susan Jacks (nee Pesklevits) began her singing career at the age of 14, was a regular performer on a national Canadian television show at 15 and appeared as a guest on numerous other television shows in Canada and the U.S. At 18, she hired Terry Jacks to accompany her on rhythm guitar. Craig McCaw was soon added on lead guitar and Susan stopped performing solo engagements, dedicating her time to the trio. They would eventually add Satwant Singh on tablas, recording and performing as The Poppy Family featuring Susan Jacks. As the voice of the Poppy Family, Susan and the group recorded a string of hit records, the most notable being "Which Way You Goin' Billy?", "That's Where I Went Wrong" and "Where Evil Grows". Susan left the Poppy Family in 1972, resuming her solo career and recorded a string of hits through the seventies and eighties. The Dream album, recorded in 1975, was received with rave reviews as she crossed from a predominantly light pop genre to a more alternative format, moving easily through blues, country rock and alternative rock. Produced by Claire Lawrence, who was not only an accomplished rock musician but also an innovative and solid producer, the album was abruptly removed from the market a few short months after its release, its future uncertain. After regaining her rights to the album and re-mastering by the best in the business, this extraordinary album is now available on CD.

Julianne Hough is the self-titled debut album of American country singer, and professional dancer, Julianne Hough. The album was released on May 20, 2008 on Mercury Nashville Records. After its release, the album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200. The album was produced by David Malloy. Hough's debut album also debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart May 28, 2008. The lead single off the album, "That Song in My Head", was released the week of March 3, 2008, and peaked at number 18 on that chart. "My Hallelujah Song" was released as the second single on September 22, peaking at number 44 and the music video was ranked number 48 on GAC's Top 50 Videos of the Year list.

This is the album debut from the Nash Ramblers, Emmylou Harris' acoustic backing band featuring Sam Bush and Roy Huskey, Jr., recorded over three nights in the former home of the Grand Ole Opry. Harris' choice of songs strikes a balance between hillbilly classics and folk-influenced rock, with Bill Monroe receiving the heaviest tribute but sharing space with Tex Owens, Bruce Springsteen, and John Fogerty.

Having made an enormous contribution to the establishment of the Nashville Sound and the modernisation of country music, Anita Kerr felt the need to expand her artistic horizons and in 1965, made the move from Nashville to Hollywood. She wanted to work with different people, to get her own songs recorded, to play jazz, to conduct an orchestra, to take on more ambitious and more varied projects musically, and to form a vocal group which, rather than be confined to studio sessions, might also appear in club and concert settings. Her arrival on the West Coast was well timed. She had just fought off The Beatles to win a Grammy for the album We Dig Mancini and she was quickly able to assemble a stellar Anita Kerr Singers (B.J Baker: alto, Gene Merlino: tenor; Bob Tebow: bass, with Anita herself as soprano and soloist) and secure a contract more tailored to her needs with Warner Brothers. The result over the next two years, were these five superbly fashioned albums.

As seen on PBS. Chet Atkins - Certified Guitar Player is a concert-tribute to Chet Atkins, performed by Chet and many giants in the music business: Mark Knopfler, The Everly Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Michael McDonald, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, backed by Nashville's premier studio musicians. Great music, great fun, and a moving experience as a joyful document created about Chet Atkins' importance in the history of music, and to everyone on that stage. The CD: contains the entire soundtrack of the program above. It has all the music (17 songs), all the interplay between Chet and his fellow stars, and all the excitement felt by the audience that night.

Waylon Jennings spent 20 years with RCA Records, signing with the label in 1965 and remaining with them until 1985, when he moved on to record for MCA Records. Needless to say, his key creative years were with RCA, particularly after 1972, when Jennings renegotiated his deal to give him more artistic control over what he produced. This box set package includes five of the resulting RCA albums that Jennings produced between 1973 and 1978, including 1973's Lonesome, On'ry and Mean, 1974's This Time and The Ramblin' Man, 1977's Ol' Waylon, and 1978's Waylon & Willie (with Willie Nelson), with whatever bonus tracks that were included on RCA's individual CD reissues of each album. It's a whole lot of Waylon, probably more than the casual listener would need and serious fans would most likely already have all of, but a big chunk of Jennings' legacy is here, so it makes an easy way to connect with his most creative period as an artist in one simple swoop.