Junior Brown- Greatest Hits (2005)

When I think of country music, my mind always goes to the old country artists- Hank W., Cash, Jennings, etc., but Junior Brown is one of the modern country artists that isn't too bad.  I have only been to 1 country concert, and it was to see Junior Brown.  I first saw him on the David Letterman show playing his custom dual necked guitar, actually it's 1 guitar & 1 guitar steel, and he was shreddin' it up!  Junior Brown is like if an old metal guitarist started playing country music- super fast fingering while using a pick and his fingers to strum all while switching from his guitar-neck to his steel-neck. 

This "Greatest Hits" release seems a little premature since I am pretty sure that he is still playing music, but nonetheless it is a good outline of the different styles he plays on his regular studio albums.  This album has 11 tracks and has a play time of right around the 45 minute mark.  Now as a disclaimer, this is country, his vocals have that twang to them and some of the songs can be a little drawn out; but, in every song he show off his mad guitar prowess.  Any of the "rags" that you listen to of his shows his bad-assery, going from fast bluegrass style picking to sweeping wah sounding Hendrix imitations, all while being able to switch from his regular guitar neck to his slide style on the steel neck.  Lyrically, these are pretty standard country topics- love, lost love, driving 18 wheelers, typical country type stuff. The accompanying music, for these tracks,  is the standard country beat on drums, walking country bass lines and rhythm acoustic guitar.   This is a short album and the songs themselves are short, so it goes by fast and is pretty entertaining. 

This is a good album for anyone who likes fast country style guitar picking and doesn't mind the country twang when listening to people sing.  I would say that seeing him live is a better experience, but with such a great guitar technique and style, definitely worth a listen.  Yet at the same time, I know that I personally cannot listen to county on a daily basis, and more often then not, not even on a weekly basis; so take that for what it's worth.

Official score- 3/5