And though Greatest Hits 2 ends its chronicle there, Toby Keith's career keeps picking up speed. His most recent album Shock'N Y'all generated three multi-week No. 1s in "I Love This Bar," "American Soldier" and "Whiskey Girl." The album itself debuted at No. 1 on both the country and overall sales charts, quickly certified for four million in sales and remains a top seller.
He has been the biggest live draw in country music for the past two years, and was Pollstar's No. 2 overall ticket seller last year behind Bruce Springsteen. The Academy of Country Music has named him Entertainer of the Year in back-to-back years, representing just two of the literally dozens of peer-voted, fan-voted and industry achievement awards bestowed upon him since the switch to DreamWorks.
His outspokenness, both in his music and in the media, has put him on the national stage, and at times made him a target for criticism". But it many ways, such hits come with the territory his expansive public persona now occupies. The hawkish theme of "Courtesy" led many to an ill-informed conclusion that Keith, a lifelong Democrat, is a hardcore right winger. He doesn't shy away from the political questions, and, party aside, reserves the right to think for himself. "If somebody asks, I'm going to give my opinion if I have an honest basis to have one.
Beyond his now very prominent role as Citizen Toby Keith, the release of Greatest Hits 2 is also a reminder of his presence as one of popular music's premier entertainers. Underplayed facets of his talent--his humor, his romanticism, his gift for telling stories--reassert themselves in this music.
The collection's three new recordings bring these traits to the fore--the keenly-observed "Stays In Mexico," which was Toby's highest debuting single ever, the pure fun and family harmony on "Mockingbird," a duet with his teenage daughter Krystal, and the wryly honest portrait of lifelong devotion culled from a conversation with his late father in "Go With Her." And in a nod to those early songs and the fans that sing along to them every night, he's added live versions of "You Ain't Much Fun" and "Should've Been A Cowboy."
Five years, three albums and one remarkable ascension to superstardom later, Toby Keith is philosophical about his future. But it's probably safe to say that the Greatest Hits 2 collection will be a personal favorite of his for a long, long time. "I know you can't be on top of the world forever," Keith says, "but when it ends it won't be for lack of hard work or because of bad writing or singing. Because I'll continue to write and work the way I have to this point, and I'll continue to surround myself with talented people and co-writers. But that time will come, and I'm certainly always going to appreciate the span that's represented by this album. Every song speaks for itself."
