Six years ago, Tim McGraw’s Greatest Hits, Volume II was released and scored quite a bit of success on the charts with new tracks like “When The Stars Go Blue” and “My Little Girl” added to the hits that had happened in the six years between hits projects.  To many fans the time between the two projects (and the fact that two hits which should’ve been on Volume One were in Volume Two) was just fine but they (and Tim) were a little upset when 2008 brought about a Greatest Hits 3 project, after Let It Go was released in 2007.  This collection, like the one before it, filled in some gaps by including past hits not on either collection, but in reality, Tim really didn’t have enough other hits to make such a collection a viable release.  So, instead, they added the #1 hit “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” (a track with Kenny Chesney and Tracy Lawrence) and the minor hits from Let It Go like “Suspicions” instead of including a #2 hit from the Everywhere album, “One of these Days.”  That song still remains available for a Future Greatest Hits 4 collection as it isn’t a part of the compilation that is the focus of this review, Tim McGraw’s Number One Hits. 

This compliation may only be another two years removed from Greatest Hits 3 and a bit of a head-scratcher to some but in the world of repackaging a stars hits, this one actually makes sense as it can cover the complete sixteen year run of hits from 1994 ‘til now.  What’s interesting about this collection is that every #1 on the billboard chart is included here and in all honesty, some of the other tunes that hit #2 may have been #1 hits on the second or third charts of the time yet Curb has chosen to stick with Billboard’s ‘industry leading standard’ chart for the two discs to make the collection a lean 24 song collection with only the new single “Felt Good On My Lips” and a remixed version of break-through hit “Indian Outlaw,” a song which didn’t hit #1, added to flesh out the collection (and to get longtime fans to buy it). 

The compilation starts off with what many would consider Tim's iconic and signature tune, the Craig Wiseman and Tim Nichols co-write “Live Like You Were Dying.” This fantastic song about living life to its fullest was a seven-week #1 and 2004’s most-played single.  The next song on the compilation is Tim’s second #1 hit, “Don’t Take The Girl” and while not as iconic as track one, it is nonetheless a tent pole of Tim McGraw’s career (even if the production feels a bit dated).  In many ways the tracks on the first disc of Number One Hits are the biggest hits of Tim McGraw’s career with the award-winning duet “It’s Your Love” with wife Faith Hill and “I Like It, I Love It” leading the way. 

The second disc starts off with Tim’s most recent #1 from 2009, “Southern Voice,” a song that surprised many when it hit #1 but it no doubt enjoyed more exposure as the title credits song to the much-watched film, The Blind Side, of which Tim was a co-star in.  “Everywhere” and “Back When” are included in this disc along with the sweet “My Best Friend” and “Not A Moment Too Soon.”  “Last Dollar (Fly Away)” (written by Big Kenny of Big & Rich) and “Where The Green Grass Grows” have similar themes while “Grown Men Don’t Cry” and “Angry All The Time” helped prove how successful Tim McGraw was at picking heart-tugging ballads.  In fact, this album is a great indication of how an artist can be really good at picking songs.  While many artists now write their songs, Tim McGraw is one reminder of how powerful the songwriting community in Nashville can be in helping an artist become as successful as Tim McGraw has become. 

While there’s nothing on here outside of the new (Top 10 as of this writing) single “Felt Good On My Lips” and the previously un-available dance mix of “Indian Outlaw,” that hasn’t been featured on previous hits albums or tim’s catalog of recordings,  Number One Hits nonetheless feels like a great starting point for new fans to get a good taste of who Tim McGraw is as an artist, which is – after all – typically what these types of collections are for, except for the ‘completist’ fans out there that buy everything from their favorite artists.

You can support Tim McGraw by purchasing this album at Amazon | iTunes.

if you prefer the music to be more than ones and zeroes, you can get the CD at Amazon.