| Music | Latest Greatest Straitest Hits Cd | George Strait

George Strait's first three greatest-hits albums (now made redundant by the four-disc Strait Out of the Box) collected essential examples of contemporary country music. In his finest singles, Strait seemed to resolve, both commercially and artistically, the tensions between hardcore twang and New Country pop. His 2000 best-of set, however, documents Strait's decline. Oh, the radio play has continued unabated--12 of the 15 tracks here made the country Top 10--but emotionally it is a sad and tedious tumble from the Cajun stomp of 1994's "Adalida" and the deliberate self-deceptions of 1996's "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" to pop-rock successes like 1998's catchy but insipid "True." The two new tracks leave the future as anybody's guess: "Murder on Music Row," a duet with Alan Jackson, pledges allegiance to tradition (both in message and execution), but "The Best Day" is devoid of any of the adult ambiguity, previously a Strait staple, that would grant it poignancy.

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