East Tennessee-born singer Kenny Chesney has, in the course of his relatively brief career, proven to be an unremarkable but thoroughly competent singer who shows occasional flashes of brilliance when teamed with the right song. That happens roughly half the time on this 17-cut compilation disc, which, despite its title, actually includes four new songs, one rerecording, and a remix. Amid soppy country-pop chart fodder ("Me and You," "When I Close My Eyes") and second-rate ditties ("How Forever Feels," "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy"), Chesney hits his stride on robust country ballads like "You Had Me from Hello" and the lead single "I Lost It." On other gems--like "That's Why I'm Here," a heartfelt tribute to the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program that topped the charts a while back; "Baptism," a great duet with Randy Travis; and his fine rerecording of "Tin Man," the song that launched his career in the mid '90s--Chesney even manages to attain an ephemeral but utterly moving transcendence over his vocal limitations and sometimes questionable song choices. --Bob Allen
