Personnel: Toby Keith (vocals); Scotty Emerick, Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Jerry McPherson, Kenny Greenberg (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Mark Douthit (saxophone); Julian King (horns, background vocals); Gaika James, Willie Roy Jr., Roman Dudock (horns); Clayton Ivey, Steve Nathan (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, keyboards); Glenn Worf, Michael Rhodes (bass instrument); Shannon Forest (drums); John Wesley Ryles, Lisa Cochran, Wes Hightower (background vocals).
Recording information: Shrimp Boat Sound Studio, Key West, Florida; Upstairs Productions, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Loud Recording, Nashville, TN; Ocean Way Studios, Nashville, Tennessee; Cartee Day, Nashville, Tennessee.
All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.
Although Toby Keith was a regular resident of the Billboard country charts for nearly 10 years before the release of 2002's UNLEASHED, it was that album and its attendant pro-Iraq War anthem, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," that catapulted him to genuine superstar status. The Oklahoma-born singer is often criticized for his politically conservative beliefs, but one listen to GREATEST HITS 2 will make it hard for any listener to resist Keith's warm, commanding baritone, dance-floor-ready neo-traditionalist rhythms, and sharp songwriting.
Though it doesn't present anything from Keith's massively popular 2003 record SHOCK'N Y'ALL, the disc does collect many of the best moments from UNLEASHED, PULL MY CHAIN, and HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW. The compilation also adds several newly recorded songs and features high-spirited live versions of early hits "Should've Been a Cowboy," and "You Ain't Much Fun." Other highlights include "Beer for My Horses," a staunchly right-wing Willie Nelson duet, and "Stays in Mexico," a freewheeling examination of marital infidelities. A representative overview of an important period in Keith's career, GREATEST HITS 2 is a perfect introduction to a talented and deceptively complex artist.
