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For many mainstream listeners, Toby Keith first appeared on their radar in 2002 with "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," the blistering counterpoint to Alan Jackson's sorrowful "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" that turned Keith into a talk radio phenomenon and a genuine American star. Like many overnight success stories, Toby Keith's celebrity didn't happen overnight -- it was the beginning of his second act, as the 2008 double-disc compilation 35 Biggest Hits makes plain. 35 Biggest Hits divides neatly into a disc of '90s hits and a disc of new-millennium singles, stopping with 2006's White Trash with Money (2007's Big Dog Daddy apparently falling under another contract and thereby absent from this comp) but adding the new recording "She's a Hottie," an OK rocker that feels like the contractual obligation it likely is. This split makes sense chronologically but it also makes sense musically, as Keith's '90s hits were much softer than his 2000s singles. After establishing his modern-day outlaw stance with "Should've Been a Cowboy" and "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" in 1993, Keith spent much of the '90s crooning ballads vaguely reminiscent of Ronnie Milsap's early-'80s hits (such as the lovely "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You"), but when he jumped from Mercury Nashville to DreamWorks in 1999, his sound got bigger and tougher, eventually leading to the Waylon-indebted swagger of "Beer for My Horses" and "Honky Tonk U." Most musicians do their most adventurous work earlier in their careers, but 35 Biggest Hits shows that Toby Keith is the opposite, getting bolder and riskier as the years go by. Such a statement suggests that his earlier records weren't much good but that's not the case at all; he had loose-limbed barroom rockers like "You Ain't Much Fun" early in his career and all of the ballads are very good, showcasing a sensitive side that has been overshadowed by the outsized persona he's been working since Pull My Chain. Listening to 35 Biggest Hits, it's easy to appreciate how much Keith has changed over the years and how he's as good now as he ever was, making this a rather revealing career overview and an excellent introduction to a singer who, no matter how bright his star shines, still tends to be a bit underrated.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Nelson Larkin, Producer, Co-Producer - Jim Cotton, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Harold Shedd, Producer, Co-Producer - Toby Keith, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Joe Scaife, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1993 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nelson Larkin, Producer, Co-Producer - Jim Cotton, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Harold Shedd, Producer, Co-Producer - Toby Keith, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Joe Scaife, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1993 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jimmy Stewart, ComposerLyricist - Nelson Larkin, Producer, Co-Producer - Jim Cotton, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Harold Shedd, Producer, Co-Producer - Toby Keith, MainArtist - Joe Scaife, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Keith Hinton, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1993 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nelson Larkin, Producer, Co-Producer - Jim Cotton, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Harold Shedd, Producer, Co-Producer - Toby Keith, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Joe Scaife, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1993 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nelson Larkin, Producer - Harold Shedd, Producer - Toby Keith, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1994 Mercury Nashville
Nelson Larkin, Producer - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Harold Shedd, Producer - Toby Keith, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Carl Goff Jr., ComposerLyricist
℗ 1994 Mercury Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nelson Larkin, Producer - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Harold Shedd, Producer - Toby Keith, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Carl Goff Jr., ComposerLyricist
℗ 1994 Mercury Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nelson Larkin, Producer - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Harold Shedd, Producer - Toby Keith, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nelson Larkin, Producer - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1996 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Wayne Perry, ComposerLyricist - Nelson Larkin, Producer - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1996 A&M Records
Chuck Cannon, ComposerLyricist - Nelson Larkin, Producer - RON "SNAKE" REYNOLDS, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1996 Mercury Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Allen Shamblin, ComposerLyricist - Chuck Cannon, ComposerLyricist - CHRIS ROWE, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Julian King, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JOHN GUESS, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist
℗ 1997 Mercury Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Sting, FeaturedArtist, ComposerLyricist - CHRIS ROWE, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Julian King, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JOHN GUESS, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist - Simon Osborne, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1997 Mercury Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Cannon, ComposerLyricist - CHRIS ROWE, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Julian King, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JOHN GUESS, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1997 Mercury Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Cannon, ComposerLyricist - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1998 Mercury Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Cannon, ComposerLyricist - Julian King, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ricky cobble, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - CHUCK AINLAY, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Mark Ralston, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1999 DreamWorks Records Nashville
Julian King, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ricky cobble, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - CHUCK AINLAY, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Mark Ralston, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1999 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Julian King, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ricky cobble, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - CHUCK AINLAY, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Mark Ralston, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1999 UMG Recordings, Inc.
DISC 2
Scotty Emerick, ComposerLyricist - Julian King, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ricky cobble, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2001 DreamWorks Records Nashville
Bobby Braddock, ComposerLyricist - Julian King, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ricky cobble, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist
℗ 2001 DreamWorks Records Nashville
Tim James, ComposerLyricist - Julian King, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ricky cobble, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist - Rand Bishop, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2001 DreamWorks Records Nashville
Julian King, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2002 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Julian King, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2002 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Willie Nelson, FeaturedArtist - Scotty Emerick, ComposerLyricist - Julian King, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2002 DreamWorks Records Nashville
Scotty Emerick, ComposerLyricist - David Bryant, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Julian King, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ricky cobble, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Jake Burns, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2003 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Chuck Cannon, ComposerLyricist - David Bryant, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Julian King, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ricky cobble, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Jake Burns, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2003 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Scotty Emerick, ComposerLyricist - David Bryant, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Julian King, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ricky cobble, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Jake Burns, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2003 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Clayton Ivey, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Wes Hightower, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Scotty Emerick, Acoustic Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Rhodes, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jerry McPherson, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Kenny Greenberg, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Franklin, Steel Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Brent Mason, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Julian King, Mixer, Horn, Recording Engineer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Steve Nathan, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Mark Douthit, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - BIFF WATSON, Acoustic Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Shannon Forrest, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Glenn Worf, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Lisa Cochran, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - JAMES STROUD, Producer - John Wesley Ryles, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jake Burns, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Gaika James, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Willie Roy Jr., Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Roman Dudok, Horn, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2004 DreamWorks Records Nashville
Clayton Ivey, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Wes Hightower, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Inez Foxx, ComposerLyricist - Lari White, Producer - Scotty Emerick, Acoustic Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Rhodes, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jerry McPherson, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Kenny Greenberg, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Franklin, Steel Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Brent Mason, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Julian King, Mixer, Horn, Recording Engineer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Steve Nathan, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Mark Douthit, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - BIFF WATSON, Acoustic Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Shannon Forrest, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Glenn Worf, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Lisa Cochran, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - JAMES STROUD, Producer - John Wesley Ryles, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jake Burns, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist - Charles Foxx, ComposerLyricist - Krystal Keith, FeaturedArtist - Gaika James, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Willie Roy Jr., Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Roman Dudok, Horn, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2004 DreamWorks Records Nashville
David Hungate, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - David Bryant, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Dan Dugmore, Steel Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - B. James Lowry, Acoustic Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Julian King, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Eddie Bayers, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Gordon Mote, Keyboards, Piano, Hammond B3, AssociatedPerformer - Brent Rowan, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Tony Harrell, Keyboards, Piano, Hammond B3, AssociatedPerformer - Jake Burns, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Chris Ashburn, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Scotty Emerick, Acoustic Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - David Bryant, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jerry McPherson, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Paul Franklin, Steel Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Brent Mason, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Julian King, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - BIFF WATSON, Acoustic Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Glenn Worf, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Jake Burns, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Chris Ashburn, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2005 DreamWorks Records Nashville
Scotty Emerick, ComposerLyricist - David Bryant, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Julian King, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Rich Hanson, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - JAMES STROUD, Producer - Jake Burns, Assistant Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Chris Ashburn, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2005 DreamWorks Records Nashville
Lari White, Producer - Scotty Emerick, ComposerLyricist - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2005 Universal Music Enterprises, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Lari White, Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Scotty Emerick, ComposerLyricist - DEAN DILLON, ComposerLyricist - Aaron Chmielewski, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Roger Osborne, Producer, Assistant Producer - MILLS LOGAN, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Toby Keith, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Joshua Muncy, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2006 Universal Music Enterprises, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Bobby Pinson, ComposerLyricist - Toby Keith, Producer, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2008 Show Dog Records, LLC.
Album review
For many mainstream listeners, Toby Keith first appeared on their radar in 2002 with "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," the blistering counterpoint to Alan Jackson's sorrowful "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" that turned Keith into a talk radio phenomenon and a genuine American star. Like many overnight success stories, Toby Keith's celebrity didn't happen overnight -- it was the beginning of his second act, as the 2008 double-disc compilation 35 Biggest Hits makes plain. 35 Biggest Hits divides neatly into a disc of '90s hits and a disc of new-millennium singles, stopping with 2006's White Trash with Money (2007's Big Dog Daddy apparently falling under another contract and thereby absent from this comp) but adding the new recording "She's a Hottie," an OK rocker that feels like the contractual obligation it likely is. This split makes sense chronologically but it also makes sense musically, as Keith's '90s hits were much softer than his 2000s singles. After establishing his modern-day outlaw stance with "Should've Been a Cowboy" and "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" in 1993, Keith spent much of the '90s crooning ballads vaguely reminiscent of Ronnie Milsap's early-'80s hits (such as the lovely "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You"), but when he jumped from Mercury Nashville to DreamWorks in 1999, his sound got bigger and tougher, eventually leading to the Waylon-indebted swagger of "Beer for My Horses" and "Honky Tonk U." Most musicians do their most adventurous work earlier in their careers, but 35 Biggest Hits shows that Toby Keith is the opposite, getting bolder and riskier as the years go by. Such a statement suggests that his earlier records weren't much good but that's not the case at all; he had loose-limbed barroom rockers like "You Ain't Much Fun" early in his career and all of the ballads are very good, showcasing a sensitive side that has been overshadowed by the outsized persona he's been working since Pull My Chain. Listening to 35 Biggest Hits, it's easy to appreciate how much Keith has changed over the years and how he's as good now as he ever was, making this a rather revealing career overview and an excellent introduction to a singer who, no matter how bright his star shines, still tends to be a bit underrated.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 2 disc(s) - 35 track(s)
- Total length: 02:07:43
- Main artists: Toby Keith
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Show Dog Nashville
- Genre: Country
© 2008 Universal Music Enterprises, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. This Compilation ℗ 2008 Universal Music Enterprises, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
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