Brooks & Dunn Greatest Hits Collection II CD

Live Recording

Brooks & Dunn: Kix Brooks, Ronnie Dunn (vocals, guitar).
Personnel: John Willis (acoustic guitar); Kenny Greenberg, J.T. Corenflos (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore (steel guitar); Larry Franklin (mandolin, fiddle); Sari Reist, Kristin Wilkinson, Anthony LaMarchina, David Davidson , David Angell (strings); Reese Wynans, Steve Nathan (piano); Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Crystal Taliefero, John Wesley Ryles, Wes Hightower, Bekka Bramlett, Kim Fleming, Perry Coleman (background vocals).
Additional personnel: Reba McEntire (vocals).
Audio Mixer: Steve Marcantonio.
Recording information: Dos Barn; Emerald Entertainment; The Sound Kitchen, Nashville, TN; The Tin Ear.
Photographer: Russ Harrington.
Arranger: Kristin Wilkinson.
Brooks & Dunn's Greatest Hits Collection, Vol. 2 picks up where their first hits compilation left off: in 1998, with the album If You See Her, and runs until 2004, when Vol. 2 was released. During this time, the duo's popularity never waned, although the quality of their output fluctuated a little bit, before they made an artistic comeback in the early 2000s, culminating with the fine 2003 album, Red Dirt Road. Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 camouflages this erratic output by concentrating on their biggest hits from this era, adding three solid new songs to the mix. This doesn't contain all their hits from these six years -- singles like "Beer Thirty" and "You'll Always Be Loved By Me" are missing -- but it does contain such big hits as "Husbands and Wives," "I Can't Get Over You," "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You" and "Only in America," which makes this a more consistent listen. While some of those smaller hits are indeed missed, the hits on this fine compilation are enough to provide an accurate overview of this stint of Brooks & Dunn's career, and will likely satisfy most of their fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
There's no denying that Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn ruled the pop/country roost throughout the 1990s, but this second volume of Brooks & Dunn hits shows that the phenomenally successful duo kept chugging along well beyond their early-'90s heyday. It's mainly occupied by tracks from the late '90s and early 2000s, interspersed with a few new bonus cuts to keep the faithful on board. Those who've kept up with the twosome's career will be familiar with the ground covered by the hits, from the old-school barroom weeper "I'll Never Forgive My Heart" to the nostalgic Bob Seger-goes-to-Nashville country-rock title track of the duo's 2003 album, RED DIRT ROAD.
As for the new songs, they run the gamut; the jubilant "That's What It's All About" is full of lustrous production and catchy pop choruses, "It's Getting Better All the Time" is a gentle, piano-laced ballad, and "Independent Trucker" is a high-octane, road-themed twangfest. Those who wrote off Brooks & Dunn somewhere in the middle of the '90s will be caught up short by THE GREATEST HITS COLLECTION II.