Chely Wright - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Chely Wright

Chely Wright The best of

Absolutley brilliant. One of the few albums I have brought that i like every track. January 9, 2007

good collection

If you are a Chely Wright fan, this compilation album is for you. Singles such as "Til I was Loved by you," "Single While Female," "Sea of Cowboy Hats," and "The Love that We Lost" are all good choices for the album, and it perfectly showcases Chely's vocal talents. I thought it was good and really recommend it to anyone. July 29, 2006

Good overview

This is a good collection for casual fans of Chely Wright. It brings together all of her big hits into one CD. Not much reason for her avid fans to own, other than having all of these songs on one cd. Her rise to fame wasn't always easy. She had a few flop albums before she had a few big hit singles. That came in 1997 with her LET ME IN album, when the first single "Shut Up & Drive" became an anthem of sorts and a hit for her at the same time. It's a very memorable song, like her other hits on this disc. I like the simplicity and the beauty and earnest of the ballad "I Already Do". "Just Another Heartache" is a fun uptempo song. She really hit it big in 1999 with the release of "Single White Female", and the album of the same name. Arguably her biggest hit. "It Was" is probably my favorite ballad she's ever recorded, there's a lot of passion and emotion throughout. She had some success with her latest disc NEVER LOVE YOU ENOUGH, the title track and "Jezebel" were hits. After that she left MCA though and now she's label-less at the moment. Listening to these songs, she should have no problem coming back and adding some new hits to her belt. July 25, 2004

Strong Retrospective of an underappreciated country artist

Chely Wright is one of the most underappreciated country artists ever. Possessing very strong pipes (sort of a country Pat Benatar) and a lot of personality, she has undeservedly never risen above the second tier of country artists.

This collection captures all but one of the thirteen singles she charted between 1994 and 2002 (the omitted single being her first, "He's A Good Ole Boy"). Chely's first two albums WOMAN IN THE MOON in 1994 and RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT in 1996 were for Mercury subsidiary Polydor and - as shown on the enclosed singles "Till I Was Loved By You," "Sea of Cowboy Hats" and "Listenin' To The Radio" - their music was high octane honky-tonk, with lots of fiddles and steel guitars.

While fun, none of her Polydor singles reached the country top 40. The albums also sold poorly, so she moved to MCA Records in 1997 to work with producer/label President Tony Brown. The first couple of MCA singles "Shut Up And Drive" and "I Already Do" from the LET ME IN cd cut back on the instrumentation, allowing Chely's stellar voice to shine amid the sparse settings (they also finally brought her some top 20 success at radio). The follow-up cd, 1999's SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, was Chely's true commercial breakthrough, spawning the catchy number one title track and the midtempo top-tenner "It Was."

Those gems found Chely's music going in a more pop-oriented direction, an approach that was even more pronounced on 2001's NEVER LOVE YOU ENOUGH. It's two singles - the lush yet torchy title track and the rip-roaring "Jezebel" - surrounded Chely with loads of orchestration but stalled outside the top 20. This setback was surprising, since Martina McBride has been a staple in the country top 10 with loads of power ballads like the
former and Terri Clark has been quite successful of late with footstompers like the latter.

After the chart underperformance of those two engaging singles (which conclude this set), Chely Wright and MCA parted company. As of now, she hasn't signed a new deal, but she continues to write songs for others (one of her most recent compositions being Clay Walker's single "I Can't Sleep"). These Millennium Collections usually only scratch the surface of an artist's career, but this one serves as a great retrospective of what is hopefully just the first phase of Chely's recording career. January 18, 2004

Great Album!

Sweet album! I have all of her others so I had to get this one! If you don't already have it... GET IT!!! December 4, 2003

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