Hit Rec Records / Capitol Records Nashville / UMG Recording Inc
Release Date: November 17th 2023
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Keith Urban– #1’s Volumes 1 & 2 (Website)
Track Listing:
- Somebody Like You (Golden Road)
- Days Go By (Be Here)
- The Fighter (feat. Carrie Underwood) (Ripcord)
- But For The Grace Of God (Keith Urban)
- You Look Good In My Shirt (Greatest Hits: 19 Kids)
- Blue Ain’t Your Color (Ripcord)
- Wasted Time (Ripcord)
- Long Hot Summer (Get Closer)
- You’ll Think Of Me (Golden Road)
- Sweet Thing (Defying Gravity)
- Better Life (Be Here)
- Raise ‘Em Up (feat. Eric Church) (Fuse)
- John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16 (Ripcord)
- Break On Me (Ripcord)
- We Were Us (feat. Miranda Lambert) (Fuse)
- Little Bit Of Everything (Fuse))
- Without You (Get Closer)
- You Gonna Fly (Get Closer)
- Coming Home (feat. Julia Michaels) (Graffiti U)
- Kiss A Girl (Defying Gravity)
- Only You Can Love Me This Way (Defying Gravity)
- Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me (Golden Road)
- Making Memories Of Us (Be Here)
- Once In A Lifetime (Love, Pain And The Whole Crazy Thing)
It’s no stranger that throughout the time that I’ve been blogging about influential artists, and throughout the time that I’ve been listening to country music– that Australian superstar Keith Urban has been a favourite artist of mine. He’s an extremely likeable guy (judging from his interviews and his presence as a judge on The Voice Australia!), and his songs are super catchy, relatable, inspiring, as well as relevant to the times we’re living in now. Keith is like an everyman type of artist- someone you can aspire to be like if you’re a budding young singer or songwriter- and it’s clear that he’s very grounded and has no ego. I can guarantee you that in 50 years’ time, we’ll still be talking about Keith and his music, as well as the mark he’s made on music in general; and if you want to know more about Keith and his music, then read Jon’s blog about him, as well as his review on his 2020 album THE SPEED OF NOW PT 1. Since that time, Keith’s also released 3 stand-alone singles- and each are varying degrees of success and impact, in my opinion. “Wild Hearts”, “Nightfalls”, “Brown Eyes Baby”, “Street Called Main” and “Straight Line” were all reviewed by this site, and each track is unique, and each is incredibly catchy and poppy. Still a bonafide country artist, Keith reminds us through his music and especially in these songs, that he marries the genre of country and pop quite well, and that his song-writing in general is to be aspired to.
With Jon covering Keith and his biography and his music quite extensively (so there’s no reason for me to rehash old ground), now’s the time for me to voice my thoughts on Keith’s latest greatest hits project #1’s Volumes 1 & 2, before we dive into “Messed Up As Me”. With 24 songs present on this physical-only album; the verdict is in, and it’s that this project is just… ok. It’s not that these 24 songs on their own are bad. These songs are all deserving of being on a greatest hits project. But there’s literally no representatives from The Speed Of Now Pt 1, and only one each from Love, Pain And The Whole Crazy Thing (and no, that’s not “Stupid Boy”!), and Graffiti U (and it’s not “Parallel Line” either!). No singles from this new era as well, nor any guest tracks like “Highway Don’t Care”, “Be A Light”, or “Love Songs Ain’t For Us”. The track list could’ve easily exceeded 40 songs, and we’d still be arguing over melodies not included- btu as it stands, you can only win so much with 24, and Keith has delivered a ‘middle-of-the-road’ greatest hits album that does include some greatest hits… but could’ve been oh-so-much-more, and so much more dynamic, punchy and with much more intent. Maybe it’s a label thing. Maybe it’s 24 songs that resonated the most with Keith. Whatever the case, #1’s Volumes 1 & 2 isn’t the greatest hits package I thought it was going to be; but others might love every selection, and that’s ok.
Even though this greatest hits project is only ‘alright’, can I say I still have high hopes for THE SPEED OF NOW PT 2, releasing sometime this year or next year, based on the previous 5 singles? Even if it is half as good as its predecessor, then it’ll be fantastic. Songs like “Nightfalls” and “Street Called Main” aren’t fantastic like the other 3 stand-alone singles. But kudos still needs to be given for Keith’s commitment and passion which is still on display. But just because #1’s Volumes 1 & 2 doesn’t resonate as much with me now, doesn’t mean that it won’t in the future. And so, I’ll leave you with a question. Do you abandon someone’s discography just because you don’t resonate with one song or one specific body of work? Would you give an artist a chance if you love one song and are indifferent to the rest of their discography? Something to think about and ponder, that’s for sure! And hopefully, Keith Urban’s upcoming new album impresses on us all greatly! And if it doesn’t, that’s ok too!
8 songs to listen to: Days Go By, But For The Grace Of God, Wasted Time, You’ll Think Of Me, Better Life, Break On Me, Kiss A Girl, Once In A Lifetime
Score: 3/5
RIYL: Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Lady A, Lainey Wilson, Maddie & Tae