Gary Allan: Greatest Hits : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

A Southern California kid who grew up surfing, Gary Allan spent the past decade getting all over country radio while proving to be more than just another cowboy hat: He has navigated the roles of tough guy and softie with better (and more rock-fan-friendly) songs than most mainstream Nashvillians. This package casts a narrow gaze on his catalog but comes up with good stuff: On uptempo tracks like "Right Where I Need to Be," Allan adopts a down-and-dirty bar-band guitar attack, cuts like "Man to Man" show off his immaculate tune sense, and some slow ones are killer -- especially "Smoke Rings in the Dark." The CD's title is literal -- fourteen of fifteen cuts went Top Twenty on the country charts -- and Allan's hits often highlight shakier commercial instincts, which means this disc peddles forgettable stuff and cheesefests like "The One." This collection makes sense, but interested parties should start with '03's See If I Care.