Bryan White

Item: Greatest Hits
Author: Andy Argyrakis

Greatest Hits

(2000)

Reviewed by Andy Argyrakis

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label Asylum RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2001

adult contemporary country

He doesn't have a strong voice and he doesn't have a stand out sound from typical country music artists these days. For some reason though, Bryan White has a greatest hits collection out with a dozen tracks on it. Although all the hits placed in the Top 20 or better on the country charts, the "hits" on this project aren't all that memorable, except for a few that made it to number one.

Of course, White's standard "Rebecca Lynn" stands out, as does "So Much for Pretending." Less familiar cuts include "Look at Me Now," "That's Another Song" and "One Small Miracle." The epic duet of "From This Moment On," along with Shania Twain, was one of those no brainer songs for the project. However, Twain had much greater success in the pop market with her version of the song, minus White's vocals.

White has played a couple of instruments since he was five years old, including acoustic guitar and drums. Throughout his career, he's credited the likes of Steve Wariner, Merle Haggard, Ronnie Milsap, and Vince Gill as main influences. Such traditional sounds are evident on songs like "Sittin' On Go" and "One Small Miracle." Two new songs, "How Long" and "The Way You Look at Me" follow on the same path. The tunes are mediocre at best, but regardless of their quality, will most likely make their way onto the country charts.

Greatest Hits marks White's sixth project for Asylum Records. Since then, he's earned a 1996 American Country Music Award for New Male Vocalist, a 1996 Country Music Association Horizon Award, as well as 2 more ACM nominations the following year. It's been a few years since White's been up for anything and the two new tracks will probably allow that dry spell to continue. Perhaps this disc would have been a more worthy collection five years down the road, during which White could probably get a few more singles under his belt.

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