The Definitive Collection

• Artist: Mark Wills
• Rating:
• Release Date: March 13, 2007
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Country

Review

The Definitive Collection compiles the key highlights from Mark Wills' up-and-down stint with Mercury Nashville from 1996-2003. A couple other greatest-hits collections preceded this one's release, but there's no question that The Definitive Collection lives up to its billing. It rounds up a total of 18 songs, whereas competing releases such as Greatest Hits (2002) and 20th Century Masters (2004) are cursory, featuring less than a dozen each. Moreover, the packaging of The Definitive Collection is well done: the booklet is filled with glossy photos, the songs are credited and sequenced chronologically, the sound is remastered, and Martin Huxley penned some insightful liner notes (come to find out, it was Wills who'd presented his guitar to President George W. Bush on August 30, 2005 -- in the midst of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast -- for that infamous, widely circulated photo that became a symbol of the President's inattentiveness to the horrors then taking place in New Orleans). Of the 18 tracks, three come from Mark Wills (1996), four from Wish You Were Here (1998), three from Permanently (2000), three from Loving Every Minute (2001), two from Greatest Hits (2002), and three from And the Crowd Goes Wild (2003) -- a fairly even roundup overall. The style and quality of the inclusions vary, however, with the sensitive ballads of Wish You Were Here perhaps standing out most. The Greatest Hits inclusion "19 Somethin'" is also a clear standout -- Wills' biggest hit, it held the number one spot on the country singles chart for six weeks and is one of the few up-tempo, purely fun songs here. The chronological sequencing of The Definitive Collection is revealing. As the serviceable contemporary country style of Mark Wills gives way to the adult contemporary of Wish You Were Here, you can sense a sea change in direction, and from there, Wills seems adrift, trying on different hats in vain until his contract eventually ran its course. In retrospect, the R&B-tinged schmaltz of Permanently particularly seems like it was an ill-advised detour, while all that followed seems to be a fruitless struggle to regain Wills' lost audience, with the exception of "19 Somethin'," of course, which was a novelty. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Jacob's Ladder (Lyrics)	Tony Martin, Keith Stegall, Cal Sweat	Mark Wills	(3:08)
High Low and in Between (Lyrics)		Mark Wills	(3:18)
Places I've Never Been (Lyrics)	Tony Martin, Aimee Mayo, Reese Wilson	Mark Wills	(3:37)
I Do (Cherish You)	Keith Stegall	Mark Wills	(3:18)
Don't Laugh at Me (Lyrics)	Allen Shamblin	Mark Wills	(3:37)
Wish You Were Here (Lyrics)	Skip Ewing, Debbie Moore	Mark Wills	(4:01)
She's in Love (Lyrics)	Keith Stegall	Mark Wills	(4:43)
Back at One (Lyrics)	Brian McKnight	Mark Wills	(4:07)
Almost Doesn't Count (Lyrics)	Shelly Peiken, Guy Roche	Mark Wills	(3:42)
I Want to Know (Everything There Is to Know About You)	Lewis Anderson	Mark Wills	(3:17)
Loving Every Minute (Lyrics)	Tom Shapiro, Monty Criswell	Mark Wills	(4:18)
The Balloon Song	Casey Beathard	Mark Wills	(3:48)
I'm Not Gonna Do Anything Without You (Lyrics)	Randy VanWarmer, Rich Alves	Mark Wills, Jamie O'Neal	(4:27)
19 Somethin'	Christophe Dubois	Mark Wills	(3:20)
When You Think of Me (Lyrics)	Brett James, Troy Verges	Mark Wills	(4:25)
And the Crowd Goes Wild (Lyrics)	Craig Wiseman, Jeffrey Steele	Mark Wills	(4:01)
What Hurts the Most (Lyrics)	Steve Robson, Jeffrey Steele	Mark Wills	(3:47)
That's a Woman (Lyrics)	Rivers Rutherford	Mark Wills	(2:42)

Credits

Mike Fink (Design), Carson Chamberlain (Producer), Andy McKaie (Compilation Producer), Geary Chansley (Photo Research), Beth Stempel (Production Coordination), Matthew Barnes (Inlay Photography), Chris Lindsey (Producer), Martin Huxley (Liner Notes), Suha Gur (Digital Remastering), Matthew Barnes (Tray Photo), Robert M. Ashcroft II (Photography), Adam Starr (Product Manager), Kristin Barlowe (Cover Photo), Mark Wills (Producer), Ryan Null (Photo Coordination), Keith Stegall (Executive Producer), Keith Stegall (Producer), Kristin Barlowe (Photography)