John Anderson - Greatest Hits [BNA]
In the late 1980s, John Anderson found himself in the awkward position of seeing the country charts dominated by the new traditionalism, and yet he couldn't buy a hit. Anderson refused to give in, however, and he signed with the fifth company of his career, a brand new label called BNA, and threw the dice one more time. His gratifyingly successful years there have been summed up onGreatest Hits. As good as the songs are, what really makes these hits great is the combination of Anderson's rich, pure-country, baritone drawl, and the pumping swamp rhythms he adds to all his uptempo numbers. Only a handful of country stars could round 15 songs from 1992-96 as impressive as these.  Unfortunately, BNA includes his remake of "Swingin'," which sounds busy and less focused than the Warner Bros. original.--Geoffrey Himes