Like
The Definitive Collection (2005) before it,
16 Biggest Hits fails to fully summarize the highlights of the
Patty Loveless catalog. That's because rival majors
Universal and
Sony BMG each own a key half of her prime recordings: her
MCA Nashville albums, from
Patty Loveless (1987) to
Up Against My Heart (1991), are
Universal property, whereas successive albums, beginning with
Only What I Feel (1993), were released by
Epic Records, property of
Sony BMG.
The Definitive Collection, a
Universal release, sought to remedy this somewhat by including a couple licensed
Epic hits (
"You Can Feel Bad," "Lonely Too Long") alongside 20 of her
MCA hits. This amounted to a great CD, but it only told half of the
Patty Loveless story, for those two licensed songs were only a tease of the treasures held within her vast
Epic catalog.
16 Biggest Hits, a
Sony BMG release, inverts the formula, including a couple licensed
MCA hits (
"Timber, I'm Falling in Love," "Chains") alongside 14 of her
Epic hits. Likewise, it amounts to a great CD -- a nonstop hit parade, in fact -- but only tells half of the story. Ideally, it's best to couple these two complementary compilations, because each side of the
Patty Loveless story is compelling and unique. As for this side, the
Epic story,
Loveless came to the label as an already-established hitmaker, in addition to her credentials among critics, who loved her. Her
Epic debut,
Only What I Feel (1993), was a huge success, returning her to the top of the charts, where she hadn't been since
Honky Tonk Angel (1988). Three songs from
Only What I Feel (
"Blame It on Your Heart," "You Will," "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye") are showcased on
16 Biggest Hits. Thereafter
Loveless continued to enjoy varying degrees of success with her successive releases for
Epic, and her next two albums,
When Fallen Angels Fly (1994) and
The Trouble with the Truth (1996), were particularly successful. They're well represented here: four songs from the former (
"I Try to Think About Elvis," "Here I Am," "You Don't Even Know Who I Am," "Halfway Down") and four from the latter (
"You Can Feel Bad," "A Thousand Times a Day," "Lonely Too Long," "She Drew a Broken Heart").
16 Biggest Hits more or less ends the story there, tacking on a few songs from later albums for good measure:
"You Don't Seen to Miss Me," from
Long Stretch of Lonesome (1997);
"That's the Kind of Mood I'm In," from
Strong Heart (2000); and
"Lovin' All Night," from
On Your Way Home (2003). It's a shame there aren't more inclusions from these latter-day albums, not to mention others like
Mountain Soul (2001) or
Dreamin' My Dreams (2005), because these are all great albums. However, that's another story, one that is best told by the individual albums.
16 Biggest Hits is great for what it is. There's not a bad song here, and it covers her early-'90s heyday thoroughly. But these 16 hits are only some of
Loveless' biggest. To gather up all of them -- that is, other big hits not found here like
"Blue Side of Town," "A Little Bit in Love," "Hurt Me Bad (In a Real Good Way)," "I'm That Kind of Girl," and
"Jealous Bone" -- you'll also need
The Definitive Collection, or another
MCA-era best-of like
20th Century Masters (2000) or
Greatest Hits (1993), in addition to
16 Biggest Hits. ~ Jason Birchmeier
![Number One Hits [Curb]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0715187796522_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Number One Hits [Curb]")