16 Biggest Hits in Bloomington, MN

Like
The Definitive Collection
(2005) before it,
16 Biggest Hits
fails to fully summarize the highlights of the
Patty Loveless
catalog. That's because rival majors
Universal
and
Sony BMG
each own a key half of her prime recordings: her
MCA Nashville
albums, from
(1987) to
Up Against My Heart
(1991), are
property, whereas successive albums, beginning with
Only What I Feel
(1993), were released by
Epic Records
, property of
.
, a
release, sought to remedy this somewhat by including a couple licensed
Epic
hits (
"You Can Feel Bad,"
"Lonely Too Long"
) alongside 20 of her
MCA
hits. This amounted to a great CD, but it only told half of the
story, for those two licensed songs were only a tease of the treasures held within her vast
catalog.
release, inverts the formula, including a couple licensed
"Timber, I'm Falling in Love,"
"Chains"
) alongside 14 of her
hits. Likewise, it amounts to a great CD -- a nonstop hit parade, in fact -- but only tells half of the story. Ideally, it's best to couple these two complementary compilations, because each side of the
story is compelling and unique. As for this side, the
story,
Loveless
came to the label as an already-established hitmaker, in addition to her credentials among critics, who loved her. Her
debut,
(1993), was a huge success, returning her to the top of the charts, where she hadn't been since
Honky Tonk Angel
(1988). Three songs from
(
"Blame It on Your Heart,"
"You Will,"
"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye"
) are showcased on
. Thereafter
continued to enjoy varying degrees of success with her successive releases for
, and her next two albums,
When Fallen Angels Fly
(1994) and
The Trouble with the Truth
(1996), were particularly successful. They're well represented here: four songs from the former (
"I Try to Think About Elvis,"
"Here I Am,"
"You Don't Even Know Who I Am,"
"Halfway Down"
) and four from the latter (
"A Thousand Times a Day,"
"Lonely Too Long,"
"She Drew a Broken Heart"
).
more or less ends the story there, tacking on a few songs from later albums for good measure:
"You Don't Seen to Miss Me,"
from
Long Stretch of Lonesome
(1997);
"That's the Kind of Mood I'm In,"
Strong Heart
(2000); and
"Lovin' All Night,"
On Your Way Home
(2003). It's a shame there aren't more inclusions from these latter-day albums, not to mention others like
Mountain Soul
(2001) or
Dreamin' My Dreams
(2005), because these are all great albums. However, that's another story, one that is best told by the individual albums.
is great for what it is. There's not a bad song here, and it covers her early-'90s heyday thoroughly. But these 16 hits are only some of
' biggest. To gather up all of them -- that is, other big hits not found here like
"Blue Side of Town,"
"A Little Bit in Love,"
"Hurt Me Bad (In a Real Good Way),"
"I'm That Kind of Girl,"
"Jealous Bone"
-- you'll also need
, or another
-era best-of like
20th Century Masters
(2000) or
Greatest Hits
(1993), in addition to
. ~ Jason Birchmeier