Rating:
Genre:
Country
Release Date: 02/08/2005
The
Totally Country series, like its
pop-oriented
NOW counterpart, rises and falls on whether the time it chronicles was any good for hit singles. Sometimes, there's only a handful of engaging tunes, other times well over half of the featured tracks are first-rate.
Totally Country, Vol. 4 fits into the latter category, filled with songs that are terribly entertaining long after they've been played to death on the radio. While some of these songs are merely enjoyable, some qualify as instant classics. In particular, there's
Toby Keith's warm, funny
honky tonk anthem
"I Love This Bar," Gretchen Wilson's kicking
"Redneck Woman," Big & Rich's gonzo
"Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)," and a pair of beach-ready tunes in
Kenny Chesney's
"No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" and
Blake Shelton's
"Some Beach." These are songs that define what modern
country is, and when combined with first-rate entries from
Alan Jackson,
Brad Paisley,
John Michael Montgomery,
George Strait, and
Montgomery Gentry -- and not to mention solid tunes from
Clay Walker,
Sara Evans,
los Lonely Boys, and
Buddy Jewell -- this is easily the best
Totally Country yet. If you want to know what mainstream
country sounded like in the middle of the 2000s, turn here.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
;)
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