Totally Country, Vol. 5

Performer: Various Artists
Producer: Phillip Moore; Craig Morgan; Bobby Braddock; Phil O'Connell; Joe Scaife; John Rich; Justin Niebank; Kix Brooks; Mark Wright; Martina McBride; Michael Knox; Paul Worley; Randy Scruggs; Ronnie Dunn; Sara Evans; Mike Wrucke; Brett Beavers; Buddy Cannon
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: The fifth installment of the TOTALLY COUNTRY series gets off to a lively start with Miranda Lambert's fiery hit, "Kerosene," and the chart-topping singles keep coming after that, ranging from Cowboy Troy's energetic "hick-hop" anthem "I Play Chicken with the Train" (featuring Big & Rich) to Martina McBride's heartbreaking "God's Will." Other artists on this 17-track disc include everyone's favorite "redneck woman," Gretchen Wilson (with her fierce "Homewrecker"), and the deep-voiced Ray Scott (offering the humorous, name-dropping "My Kind of Music"), making this a fine compilation with a little something for every type of country fan out there. The fifth installment of the ongoing Totally Country series was released the first week of February 2006, but it shouldn't be thought of as a time capsule of the biggest country hits of the previous year. Sure, there are some big hits from 2005 here -- Miranda Lambert's great "Kerosene," Big & Rich's silly "Comin' to Your City," and Lonestar's sentimental "You're Like Comin' Home" -- but there are more songs from 2004 than 2005, and there's a fair share of cuts from 2003, too. So, don't think of this as a yearbook, but rather as a sampler of what was played on contemporary country radio in the mid-2000s. On that level, Totally Country, Vol. 5 is representative, even if it's a little uneven. There's a strong representation of Big & Rich, as performers and producers, for instance, and there are also several excellent neo-traditional cuts from the likes of Lambert, Dierks Bentley ("How Am I Doin'"), and Ray Scott ("My Kind of Music"). There's also some pleasant, occasionally forgettable fodder from the Music City machine, and there a couple of novelties (Cowboy Troy's hick-hop "Cowboy Troy" and Keith Anderson's "XXL") that are either fun or irritating, depending on your point of view. In other words, it's a lot like listening to the radio -- although it actually has more good songs on average than the radio -- and for casual contemporary country fans looking for a sampler of hits, this will suit their needs just fine. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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