Playlist: The Very Best of Dixie Chicks

It's a sign of the times that the Dixie Chicks' first compilation isn't a high-profile release but rather a budget-line entry in Sony's Playlist series; greatest-hits albums aren't necessarily big-ticket items, but rather a way to get all the big tunes in a quick download. Playlist doesn't quite fit the bill for the Dixie Chicks: this series is designed to balance big hits with album tracks, intentionally bypassing some charting singles, so there are a few major ones missing here, including "I Can Love You Better," "There's Your Trouble," "You Were Mine," "Goodbye Earl," "Ready to Run," "Tonight the Heartache's on Me," "Cold Day in July," and "Some Days You Gotta Dance." That said, Playlist does have the biggest hits -- "Wide Open Spaces," "Sin Wagon," "Long Time Gone," "Landslide," "Not Ready to Make Nice" -- and the tracks are sharply selected, making for a good, representative compilation if not quite a definitive one. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine