When LeAnn Rimes first came into prominence in 1996 - belting out "Blue" at 13 years of age - she was hailed as the new Patsy Cline. Seven years later, the Cline comparisons have faded, more a reflection of Rimes' subpar subsequent material than a drop in her vocal ability.

"Blue's" follow-ups "One Way Ticket" and "Unchained Melody" were less traditional, but kept the emphasis on her glorious contralto. The pop success of 1997's "How Do I Live" (Trisha Yearwood's version hit bigger at country radio), however, would lead Rimes in a slicker direction, with Britney-like dance tracks "Can't Fight The Moonlight" and "Life Goes On" that mired her voice in heavy production. Even the ballad selection was often questionable, the nadir being her remake of Debbie Boone's sappy "You Light Up My Life."

Greatest Hits closes with three new recordings. "Last Thing On My Mind" - a duet with Ronan Keating -is forgettable, but the fluid, steel guitar-infused "This Love" charms and deserves to return Rimes to country chart prominence. Best of all is Rimes' spinetingling interpretation of "Oh Holy Night" that will surely be a staple on country radio at Christmastime for years to come.

While it is hard to imagine an admirer of "Blue" being enthralled with "Can't Fight The Moonlight" (and vice-versa), this nineteen track collection provides a thorough picture of Rimes' eclectic career. It also includes a limited edition dvd containing four of Rimes' videos.

I am always stunned by the song selection for practically every "Greatest Hits" collection that has ever been released. This CD is unfortunately not an exception:

* Why are we subjected to the Graham Stack remix of "Can't Fight The Moonlight"? I do not understand why Curb did not include the version that was played on the radio.

* The radio and "Aida" CD version of "Written In The Stars" features Elton John singing first followed by LeAnn on each verse. The version on this CD features LeAnn opening each verse followed by Elton.

* Where is "Looking Through Your Eyes" - a Top 20 Pop and Top Five A/C hit? I can understand the exclusion of lesser hits - "Hurt Me," "These Arms Of Mine," "But I Do Love You," "Feels Like Home." But why include an album track, "Crazy," at the expense of a bona fide hit?

* Who determined the sequencing of this? There's no order - chronology, chart success, song style - whatsoever. Since LeAnn has recorded all over the musical landscape, the presentation here does not provide any flow.

This CD is saved by LeAnn's stunning voice and the songs - at least those in the versions that we remember.

Whenever an artist puts out their FIRST Greatest Hits album, it's supposed to be a closing of a chapter in the first phase of their career. Out of the 19 songs on this CD, 17 are actual hits while two were not. "Crazy" was a hit overseas. "O Holy Night" and the duet with Ronan Keating on "Last Thing On My Mind" were NOT hits. What we're treated to are 17 country and pop hits that LeAnn placed on the charts from 1996 through the present, "This Love" is at #39 on the country chart after the pop success of "We Can" late last year. LeAnn broke out of the Patsy Cline mold after the success of "How Do I Live", which sold 3,000,000 copies and was #1 on the AC charts for 12 weeks and remained in the pop Top-10, Top-40, and overall Hot 100 for record setting weeks. Her 1999 duet with Elton John, "Written in the Stars", is also on here as is her trademark "Blue" and "One Way Ticket". "Can't Fight The Moonlight" was her HUGE international million seller from 2001. However, several hits are missing: "Feels Like Home" hit #8 AC in 1998, "These Arms of Mine" hit #34 country in 1999, "Looking Through Your Eyes" hit #5 AC in 1998, "But I Do Love You" hit #19 country in 2001, "Soon" hit #8 AC in 2002, and "Suddenly" hit #4 AC in 2003...one would think that those songs should've been on here instead of the two NON-HITS. A DVD also comes with the CD and it features "Blue", "How Do I Live?", "Can't Fight The Moonlight", and "We Can".

It's been a long time coming for LeAnn Rimes to release a GREATEST HITS. After all she had her first hit in 1996 at the age of 13 with "Blue". Now she's 21 and I guess it's a good time to look back on your career, and look ahead to where you want to go. Let's talk about the new tracks. "Last Thing On My Mind", a duet with Ronan Keating, is not really a good song and shouldn't be on here. "This Love", if there's any justice, will get her back on country radio as its a beautiful ballad that shows her great vocals, and is one of the best songs she's done in a while. Also included is "O Holy Night", to tide fans over until next year when her Christmas album is released. That one could have been left out too. Another complaint is that instead of the original version of "Can't Fight The Moonlight", one of her biggest hits, they include the Graham Stack Radio edit, which is already available on the 2002 version of the I NEED YOU album. Why not let fans have the original on an actual LeAnn album, instead of having to dig out the COYOTE UGLY SOUNDTRACK every time we want to hear the original? Otherwise, the collection is pretty good. I've never liked her cover of "Unchained Melody", but it makes an appearance nonetheless as it was a hit on the country charts. Each of her albums is covered pretty well, except 2002's TWISTED ANGEL which only "Life Goes On" makes the cut from. Other hits include the mega hit "How Do I Live", "Commitment", "I Need You", "On The Side of Angels", "We Can", "Written In The Stars", and many more.

Leann Rimes has had a very successful music career so far. This greatest hits album shows her growth. Somehow the songs produced by her dad Wilbur Rimes are conservative by country's standards, such as Blue, One Way Ticket and How Do I Live. But Leann branches out from that mode with later songs produced by Trevor Horn (I went the same guy that did Seal, Tina Turner and Cher's albums did Leann's songs), and even Desmond Child (known for Bon Jovi's hits). And her going to Graham Stack to remix Can't Fight the Moonlight just steps the momentum a bit. They allowed her to experiment more. Love the Written In the Stars duet with Elton John. I liked the very funky Life Goes On. Would have wanted Review My Kisses from Twisted Angel on here. But her country numbers are still her strongest suit. Leann sounds so irresistable vocally on all the songs and I hope that she continues to make more exciting music in the future.