Reviews and Lists

By Shelly Fabian, About.com Guide to Country Music

Which country albums should be in your collection? Which artists are most often named as Country Music influences? Which new releases should you buy? You'll find the answers here. Plus, view our lists of the best of the best in country music.

1. Best of Country 2006
2. Best of Country 2007
3. Country Essentials
4. Country DVDs
5. Country Reading

Best of Country 2006

We give you the best albums of the year, our personal picks, tell you the number one songs and albums. If it's what's best in country music in 2006, you will find it here.

• About Country Staff's Picks for Top 10 Albums of 2006
• AboutCountry Top 40 Singles of 2006
• Class of 2006
• Country Single Releases for 2006 Archive
• Five Stars to Watch in 2006
• Lyrics for Top 20 Songs of 2006

• Number One Songs of 2006 Part 1
• Number One Songs of 2006 Part 2
• On the Charts in 2006
• Top 10 Country CDs You May Have Missed in 2006
• Top 20 Country Music Songs of 2006

Best of Country 2007

We give you the best albums of the year, our personal picks, tell you the number one songs and albums. If it's what's best in country music in 2007, you will find it here.

• AboutCountry Top 20 Singles of 2007
• Best Country Albums - First Half of 2007
• Best of Country Music 2007 in Photos
• Best of Country 2007 - Shel's Personal Picks in a Variety of Categories
• Class of 2007
• Country Single Releases for 2007 Archive
• Lyrics for Top 20 Songs of 2007

• Number One Country Albums of 2007
• Number One Country Songs of 2007
• Recommended Country CDs for 2007
• Top 10 Artists of 2007
• Top 20 Lyrics of 2007 Quiz
• Your AboutCountry Staff's Picks for Best Country Albums of 2007

Country Essentials

These are the essential artists and albums of country music.

• Top 500 Country Songs of All Time
• Top 200 Most Influential Country Albums
• Top 100 Country Artists of All Time
• Top 10 Country Artists of the 1990s

Country DVDs

Here are our recommendations of Country Music DVDs to add to your collection. We've included video collections, performance videos, tv shows, and videos with miscellaneous country-related topics as our picks.

• American Masters Series Presents: Hank Williams - Honky Tonk Blues
• Brad Paisley - The Video Collection
• Coal Miner's Daughter - Starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones
• Keith Urban - Livin' Right Now - DVD Review
• O Brother, Where Art Thou - Starring George Clooney

• Pure Country - George Strait and Isabel Glasser
• Urban Cowboy - Starring John Travolta & Debra Winger
• Various Artists - Grand Ole Opry at Carnegie Hall
• Walk the Line - Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon
• Waylon Jennings - Nashville Rebel

Country Reading

There are many great books available on country music and its stars. Here are some of our favorites.

• Big & Rich - All Access
• The Country Music Pop-Up Book - Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
• The Gospel Side of Elvis - Joe Moscheo
• The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love, and Faith of an American Legend – Steve Tur
• Will The Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music In America Paul Kingsbury/Alanna Nash