Keith Urban is the most talented guy in the country business, i'm only fan of female country singers but Keith is the exception, i love his songs because he's not like some others country singers that only talk about girls and drinks, he actually sing about real stuffs and true feelings.
If you never gave Keith a chance before, this is the time, i'm sure you will not regreat.
All his huge hits are on the album.

I Told You So #2 (US country chart)
Stupid Boy #3 (US country chart)
Better Life #1 (US country chart)
Making Memories Of Us #1 (US country chart)
Once In A Lifetime #6 (US country chart)
Tonight I Wanna Cry #2 (US country chart)
You're My Better Half #2 (US country chart)
Days Go By #1 (US country chart)
But For The Grace of God #1 (US country chart)
You'll Think Of Me #1 (US country chart)
Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me #1 (US country chart)
Raining On Sunday #3 (US country chart)
Where The Blacktop Ends #3 (US country chart)
Your Everything #4 (US country chart)
Somebody Like You #1 (US country chart)
Everybody (still on the chart)

I picked up this album on impulse because I had a copy of the James Taylor MusiCares tribute DVD and I thought Keith Urban did the best cover of any of them. He did "Country Road" with a kind of soulfulness that was very additive, and his solo was inventive and original. But I hadn't heard any of his songs before.

Well of course I'd heard the original Steve Forbert version of "Romeo's Tune" and that kicks the album off. But as the album went on, it became apparent that he's another one of those practitioners of pop-country that more a descendant of 70's arena rock and John Denver than Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. A good practitioner, no doubt. He avoids all the pedal steel and fiddle and vocal twangs that shlockier guys use to remind you that this is country. But this could have easily been on the radio in 1979 and not been considered country. I mean, he would have fallen right in with the Eagles and Jackson Browne.

I thought we didn't get enough of his fine electric guitar work, and while there were a few songs that departed from typical love song sentiment ("Stupid Boy" is a good one), there's too many that don't. These songs were obviously written to be smash hits. Some of the songs have strong momentum... I mean they're good craft, but it wasn't what I was hoping for, which was another Lyle Lovett / Robert Earl Keene / Alison Krauss.

I have to think that all the people who gave this five stars were big Keith Urban fans who think it's great to have all their favorites on one disc.

This CD appeals to all music fans - those who love country music and those who want to experience a talented singer/songwriter/musician. Keith perfectly blends the "feel good" aspects of country music (words you can understand and relate to) with fabulous rhythms (including some amazing guitar work) to create this greatest hits CD.

Owners of other Keith Urban CDs will want to own this to have the "best of the best" in one place; new fans will want to own this to have a great sampling of Keith's work. These amazing songs include all his number one hits - as well as two new tracks. Aptly titled "18 Kids," it's easy to see why these 18 tracks were selected by Keith - and it will be easy for listeners to see why these are the songs that have propelled Keith to stardom and to winning many awards, including `Male Vocalist of the Year' and `Entertainer of the Year.'

How ironic that the most unexpected country star comes out with one of the best Greatest Hits Packages I've ever seen. On the heels of the dismal Hits package by Faith Hill (an abominable hits collection if there ever was one), this CD comes as a refreshing surprise to all of us who have followed Urban's career.

Whats evident through this album is how much his voice has changed over the last ten years. This is a good thing. Some of the earlier tracks lack a country edge to them, and its evident that Keith worked on his southern twang on his later recordings (gotta admit, he DOES sound more country later on in his career).

So, the best amongst the 18 tracks? I'm going to go with "Better Life" and "Days go By", which for many reasons to me, remain the two best songs Urban ever released. The list here is not chronological, which is fine. Keith also does something differently on most of his songs - instead of a typical country male star who would usually weave a story/narrative into his songs' lyrics, Keith is more inclined toward the Bon Jovi school of thought - free flow lyrics with a repetitive chorus. This may or may not work for some listeners. In this case, its evident that Urban is very much part of the country-rock genre, but he is definitely not a master story-teller.

Past that, however, its great to see that Keith waited a few years before releasing this album. His last official CD "Love, Pain, and the Whole Crazy Thing" is a country-rock masterpiece - possibly the greatest country CD of last year (yes, even better than Reba's "Duets" or the two Carrie Underwood records). Critics might tend to disagree, but chances are that if you've read this far in the review, you do have some love for Urban. I would say, pick up both this CD and his last album - both are stellar.

In an age where the term "Greatest Hits" has been used and abused by various artists and record labels, its wonderful to see that this country boy from Australia gets it right the first time out. You won't regret a minute of this purchase.

PS - I recommend getting the deluxe edition of this, for all the videos.

Five Stars.

I have all of Keiths music on various cds but putting this on and getting all your favorites....fantastic!