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Blake Shelton – Reloaded: 20 #1 Hits (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:16:41 minutes | 894 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

The title Re-Loaded: 20 #1 Hits slyly winks at Blake Shelton’s first hits collection, Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton. Released in time for the holiday season of 2010, a lot has happened between that compilation and this 2015 collection — namely, Shelton has turned into a household name thanks to his starring role on NBC’s televised music competition The Voice (not to mention his headline-grabbing romance with Miranda Lambert), and he’s had the hits to go along with his fame. According to Billboard’s U.S. Country Airplay charts, he had precisely 12 number one hits from the three albums he’s released since Loaded and they’re all here, sequenced in reverse-chronological order beginning with “Sangria,” running through the smooth-rolling “Sure Be Cool If You Did” and the modulated rowdiness of “Boys Round Here,” and ending with “Honey Bee,” the smash that hit in 2011 just as the singer started on The Voice. Next up are his eight number ones from the 2000s — “Hillbilly Bone,” “She Wouldn’t Be Gone,” “Home,” “Some Beach,” “The Baby,” and “Austin” — finally concluding with the nicely laid-back, grooving “Gonna,” a song that underscores how Shelton easily transitioned from traditionalist to mainstream crooner. By focusing so heavily on his 2010s, the rest of Reloaded also emphasizes this shift, and leaves behind many of the great, brawnier singles he had from the 2000s, but that’s a fair trade-off: not only will this collection appeal to 2010s converts, it is true to who Shelton is in 2015. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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Blake Shelton – Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 55:08 minutes | 638 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records

Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton, is a solid collection of the country singer’s singles, hits, and favorites from his five studio full-lengths, and the two six-track EPs he released in the latter year. Fifteen tracks deep, it begins with the two cuts that put him on contemporary country’s radar — “Ol Red” and “Austin” — from his self-titled debut album in 2001. The Dreamer, from 2003, is represented by the its two best cuts, “The Baby,” and the classic “Playboys of the Southwestern World.” There are three from 2004’s Blake Shelton’s Bar & Grill, including Shawn Camp’s stellar “Nobody But Me,” and Shelton’s reading of the Conway Twitty smash “Goodbye Time.” Pure BS, from 2007, is showcased by a pair of numbers, including “The More I Drink” and a third, “Home,” comes from the deluxe edition of album. There’s a solid version of “She Wouldn’t Be Gone” from 2008’s Startin’ Fires to round things out. The first 11 tracks were a given, and Shelton’s annotations in the booklet make a solid case for their inclusion. That said, Shelton also tacks on the title track from the Hillbilly Bone, “Six Pack,” as well as “Kiss My Country Ass” from the same set. Further, “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” and the title track from the second EP are here. All four of these songs were released earlier in the calendar year, making their appearances seem redundant at best and, frankly, like a cynical money grab at worst. Oftentimes, less really is more. – Thom Jurek
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