It’s been six years since Alan Jackson, one of country music’s modern-day legends, put out an album of all new songs. That drought comes to an end on May 14th with the release of Where Have You Gone, a sprawling 21-track compilation that finds the Country Music Hall of Fame member reflecting on the state of his beloved genre, paying tribute to his late mother, and, in some songs, simply having a honky-tonking good time.

Ahead of Where Have You Gone, we’ve been revisiting the Newnan, Georgia, native’s catalog and listening with fresh ears. In the end, we put together this chronological list of Jackson’s essential songs, from the free-spirited “Chattahoochee” to the national healing anthem “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).”