Rating:
Genre:
Country
Release Date: 08/03/2004
There have been plenty of
Randy Travis compilations, from the initial 1992
Greatest Hits to
Rhino's superb 2002 double-disc set
Trail of Memories: The Randy Travis Anthology, but there is still place in his catalog for
Rhino's 2004
The Very Best of Randy Travis. Essentially, this is a single-disc distillation of
Trail of Memories, with 19 of its 20 tracks also featured on the previous compilations -- and it's not just that they're duplicated, it's that these are the same versions, the same single edits and mixes, that were on the two-CD set. The one new track is
"Three Wooden Crosses," a 2003 single that became his first
country chart-topper since 1994. It's a welcome addition, but not enough to make this necessary to anybody who already owns
Trail of Memories, but for those who don't have that excellent collection, this is worth considering since it covers the same ground more concisely, providing the best single-disc overview of
Travis released to date.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide