Absolutely The Best

Judging by the mere track listing, Fuel 2000's 2003 collection Absolutely the Best does indeed have many of Faron Young's absolute best songs. That doesn't mean it's the absolute best collection on the market, however -- not when there's the Country Music Foundation's superb 24-track collection Live Fast, Love Hard: Original Capitol Records, 1952-1962 or the even more exhaustive 2000 Collectors Choice release, The Complete Capitol Hits of Faron Young (not to mention the Bear Family box Hello Walls, which contains all of his Capitol recordings for those really serious fans). These are better than Absolutely the Best, which serves up 14 of those classic country hits, as compiled and annotated by Bill Dahl (whose liner notes are typically strong, even though it would have been nice to have separate track information as well). Since the previously mentioned collections are geared more toward collectors, there is a space for this disc, since it offers an expert selection of his biggest and best songs, but if you already know you want a serious, thorough collection, pass this by for either the CMF or Collectors Choice release. If you just want a sampling, this satisfies. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine