Artist:     Alan Jackson

Album:     Genuine: The Alan Jackson Story

Label:     Legacy Recordings

Release Date:     11/6/15

70

BUY DIGITAL

BUY PHYSICAL

There are two sides to Alan Jackson’s Genuine: The Alan Jackson Story. The upside of this three-disc set is that Jackson needs no introduction, and his 25 years of success are surely worth a compilation tribute. In those 25 years, Jackson had 50 singles make it into the top 10 of Billboard’s country singles chart. Many even shot to #1. Genuine isn’t just those singles, though. The 59 songs included here also showcase fan favorites, songs that mean a lot to Jackson himself and eight previously unreleased tracks (including a live version of the Eagles’ “Seven Bridges Road”).

The downside of a collection like this is that it’s really for the superfans- the group of people who don’t mind spending money on a box set just for a handful of previously unreleased tracks. There’s also a good chance this particular set of fans have already heard these unreleased tracks before somehow. Nowadays, people can create playlists of their favorite songs from a particular artist, so a three-disc set like this without much bonus content might not have been the best approach.

Overall though, this is a good tribute to Alan Jackson’s impressive career, and for people who like it old school style and prefer physical discs and their work done for them, this collection isn’t all that bad. The exclusive booklet insert features tributes to Jackson from many well-known country music stars, so that helps. It also comes with a pull-out poster to sweeten the deal.

– Brenda Hillegas