Search - Mark Wills :: 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection

Strong Supplement To Wills' Greatest Hits

James E. Bagley | Sanatoga, PA USA | 04/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the second Mark Wills' retrospective (his first - Greatest Hits - was released just 17 months prior in November 2002) of his Mercury Records tenure that lasted from 1996-2003. It serves as an effective supplement to the previous set.Four tracks overlap Greatest Hits and this Millennium Collection. They are: the gently rollicking leadoff track "Jacob's Ladder" and the romantic-oriented odes "She's In Love," "I Do (Cherish You)" and "Wish You Were Here" (all top ten country hits). On this collection, we also get the remaining Wills' singles that Greatest Hits left off: the endearing honkytonker "High, Low, and In Between," the sunny toe-tapper "Everything There Is To Know About You" and the mid-tempo stomper "Loving Every Minute." While these three peaked outside the top 20 on the country charts, they are all enjoyable and deserve to be finally anthologized. While Greatest Hits has the stronger lineup - including the poignant message song "Don't Laugh At Me" and the riproaring megahit "Nineteen Somethin'" (both omitted from this Millennium Collection) - it was dominated by ballads (including 8 in a row during one stretch). The Millennium Collection is far more balanced, and offers a few nice surprises such as "The Balloon Song," a non-single that would have been a big hit had it been released to radio. I suggest you purchase both Greatest Hits and Millennium Collections to get all of Wills' best Mercury recordings. This set's budget price makes it an affordable addition."