The Essential (Alabama album)

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The Essential
Greatest hits by Alabama
Released	2005
Recorded	1998 (Disc 1, Tracks 1-3) 1980-1996 (other tracks)
Genre	Country
Label	Legacy/Sony BMG
Producer(s)	Various producers and Alabama
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Alabama chronology
The American Farewell Tour (2003)	The Essential (2005)	Livin' Lovin' Rockin' Rollin': The 25th Anniversary Collection (2006)

The Essential is a two-disc, 44-track greatest hits package released by the American country music band Alabama.

The album chronicles the biggest hits from Alabama released between 1980 and 1998. The lineup includes all 33 of their Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles & Tracks No. 1 singles, plus eight other Top 5 hits and three new tracks.

Of those new tracks, "How Do You Fall in Love" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in the fall of 1998. The follow-up single, "Keepin' Up," reached the Top 20 in early 1999, while "Five O'Clock 500" was not released as a single.

All of the greatest hits are presented in their single/radio edit forms; in some cases, the songs were nearly two minutes shorter than their original album versions.

Contents 1 For the Record 2 Sales 3 Track listing 3.1 Disc 1 3.2 Disc 2 4 Charts 4.1 As For the Record 4.2 As The Essential

[edit] For the Record

The Essential had previously been released in August 1998 as For the Record: Alabama 41 Number One Hits; both albums have an identical track lineup.

There is no clear reason why the change was made. However, in his review of The Essential, All Music Guide reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated that the new album title eliminated "the misleading subtitle that claimed all of the songs on the album hit No. 1." [1] A disclaimer on the back of the album indicates that The Essential is the reissued For the Record.

[edit] Sales

The original For the Record album was certified platinum for sales of 4 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America [2]. It is unknown whether albums marketed under the title The Essential are included in these sales figures.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Disc 1

1. "Five O'Clock 500" (Gentry, Owen, Rogers) – 3:36*
2. "Keepin' Up" (Fowler, Gentry, Owen, Rogers) – 3:08*
3. "How Do You Fall in Love" (Fowler, Gentry, Owen) – 3:02*
4. "Tennesse River" (Owen) – 3:02
5. "Why, Lady, Why" (Gentry, Scott) – 3:09
6. "Old Flame" (Donna Lowery, Mac McAnally) – 3:12
7. "Feels So Right" (Owen) – 3:36
8. "Love in the First Degree" (DuBois, Hunt) – 3:19
9. "Mountain Music" (Owen) – 3:38
10. "Take Me Down" (Mark Gray, J.P. Pennington) – 3:43
11. "Close Enough to Perfect" (Chambers) –3:33
12. "Dixieland Delight" (Ronnie Rogers) – 3:57
13. "The Closer You Get" (Mark Gray, J.P. Pennington) – 3:35
14. "Lady Down on Love" (Owen) – 3:58
15. "Roll On (Eightteen Wheeler)" (Dave Loggins) – 3:44
16. "When We Make Love (Seals, Williams) – 3:37
17. "If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)" (Kellum, Mitchell) – 3:22
18. "(There's a) Fire in the Night" (Corbin) – 3:58
19. "There's No Way" (Jarrard, Palas, Robinson) – 4:12
20. "Forty Hour Week (For a Livin') (Dave Loggins, Don Schlitz, Lisa Silver) – 3:21
21. "Can't Keep a Good Man Down" (Corbin) – 3:39
22. "She and I" (Dave Loggins) – 3:36

[edit] Disc 2

1. "Touch Me When We're Dancing" (Bell, Skinner, Wallace) – 3:43
2. "You've Got 'The Touch'" (Jarrard, Palas, Robinson) – 4:15
3. "Face to Face" (duet with K.T. Oslin) (Owen) – 3:01
4. "Fallin' Again" (Fowler, Gentry, Owen) – 3:59
5. "Song of the South" (Bob McDill) – 3:11
6. "If I Had You" (Chater, Mayo) – 3:54
7. "High Cotton (Anders, Murrah) – 3:00
8. "Southern Star" (Alves, Dean, Murrah) – 3:08
9. "Jukebox in My Mind" (Gibson, Rogers) – 3:37
10. "Forever's as Far as I'll Go" (Mike Reid) – 3:34
11. "Down Home" (Bowles, Leo) – 3:27
12. "Here We Are" (Chapman, Gill) – 2:52
13. "Then Again" (Bowles, Silbar) – 3:44
14. "Born Country" (Hill, Schweers) – 3:17
15. "I'm in a Hurry (and Don't Know Why)" (Murrah, VanWarmer) – 2:49
16. "Once Upon a Lifetime" (Baker, Myers) – 4:17
17. "Hometown Honeymoon" (Leo, Photoglo) – 3:17
18. "Reckless" (Clark, Stevens) – 3:19
19. "Give Me One More Shot" (Gentry, Owen, Rogers) – 3:30
20. "She Ain't Your Ordinary Girl" (Jason) – 2:53
21. "In Pictures" (Boyd, Doyle) – 3:31
22. "Sad Lookin' Moon" (Fowler, Gentry, Owen) – 3:35

* Denotes new track

[edit] Charts

[edit] As For the Record

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1998	Country Albums	2

[edit] As The Essential

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
2005	Country Albums	52