Eleven Hits from 3 CDs make a Best of collection?

After only three albums released (not including her holiday CD) Jo Dee Messina has released her first Greatest Hits package. Featuring each and every one of her previous eleven hit songs, the collection is a curious step forward for an artist that has been riding a steady wave of success.

From her first, self-titled, album are the Top 5 hits Heads Carolina, Tails California and You’re Not In Kansas Anymore. Both songs were released in 1996 and were the building blocks of Jo Dee’s career. Her career began earlier in the decade when she met and befriended another new artist, Tim McGraw. When her development deal with another label fell through, Tim had begun getting hits of his own and brought Jo Dee to his label, Curb Records and she was quickly signed to a contract with Tim being a co-producer along with his producer Byron Gallimore.

After the initial success of those two singles, Jo Dee fell upon some lean times and almost had to declare bankruptcy. In 1998 everything changed when Jo Dee roared back with a couple of Phil Vassar penned songs which both reached Number 1 at Billboard. Bye-Bye and I’m Alright were those songs. I’m Alright practically was Jo Dee’s life at the time with lyrics which proclaim her happy and healthy despite those lean times. Two More singles would come from the record, titled I’m Alright and help it achieve Platinum status. Those singles were the sweet ballad Stand Beside Me, another Number 1, and a cover of Dottie West’s Lesson In Leavin’ (which made it to Number 2 on the charts).

After that success, Jo Dee went back into the studio with Tim and Byron once again with the result being her fine 2000 release Burn. The CD would go on to spawn five smash hit singles from it. The first single was the fine up-tempo track That’s The Way (Number 1) followed by the title track Burn which also hit Number 1 followed by Carolyn Dawn Johnson’s Downtime (No. 5) and the final release from the record, the multi-format smash hit featuring Mr. McGraw, Bring On The Rain.

The next album to be released from Jo Dee was supposed to be her fourth full-length record but like the label did with Tim McGraw in 2000, they thought they should shelve that record and release this Greatest Hits package with a couple of new songs that were “leftovers” from the Burn album. One of those leftovers is the wonderful track “Wishing Well” which Phil Vassar wrote and Jessica Andrews recorded on her 2001 Who I Am record (all of these artists share the same producer: Byron Gallimore). I Wish and You Belong In The Sun are both songs that have a similar sound and lyrical quality to them as Burn and the current single, Was That My Life do. What is not quite known is whether all four of these new songs will see the light of day as singles or rather just were tacked on to give longtime fans a reason to purchase it (something Curb didn’t do with McGraw’s Greatest Hits CD).

Final Analysis While Jo Dee Messina is a very competent vocalist who sings very well written songs, this collection tends to sound somewhat the same. Jo Dee is a wonderful person who is charming and witty but she needs to stay away from the uplifting songs and turn to other type of songs like “Bye-Bye and “Heads Carolina” if she wants to stay a top recording artist.
Songs
1. Was That My Life
2. I’m Alright
3. Heads Carolina, Tails California
4. Bye-Bye
5. Stand Beside Me
6. Bring On The Rain
7. Lesson In Leavin
8. That’s The Way
9. Burn
10. Downtime
11. Because You Love Me
12. You’re Not In Kansas Anymore
13. Wishing Well
14. You Belong In The Sun
15. I Wish
16. Bring On The Rain (CD Rom Video)