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Entertainment Weekly Lists 25 Essential Country Albums

Entertainment Weekly magazine has listed what it deems the "25 Country Albums You Need to Hear (Even if You Hate Country Music.)"

The artists who grace the list range from relative newcomers Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley to legends like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. They also range from country traditionalists, such as Merle Haggard and Brad Paisley, to more left-of-center acts like Steve Earle and Gillian Welch.

See the full list of albums after the jump, then add your comments about which albums you think EW should have included on the list . . . and which they should have left off.

Entertainment Weekly's 25 Country Albums You Need to Hear (Even if You Hate Country Music):

Johnny Cash - 'At Folsom Prison'

Dixie Chicks - 'Home'

Dwight Yoakam - 'Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.'

Loretta Lynn - 'Van Lear Rose'

Willie Nelson - 'Red Headed Stranger'

Buck Owens and His Buckaroos - 'Carnegie Hall Concert'

Dierks Bentley - 'Modern Day Drifter'

Miranda Lambert - 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'

Gram Parsons - 'The Complete Reprise Sessions'

Brad Paisley - 'Time Well Wasted'

Dolly Parton - 'Coat of Many Colors'

Emmylou Harris - 'Elite Hotel'

Robbie Fulks - 'Georgia Hard'

Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris - 'Trio'

Hank Williams - 'Gold'

Merle Haggard - 'The Best of Merle Haggard'

Shania Twain - 'Come On Over'

Steve Earle - 'Guitar Town'

Vince Gill - 'These Days'

Elvis Costello - 'Almost Blue'

Gretchen Wilson - 'Here For the Party'

The Flying Burrito Brothers - 'The Definitive Collection'

Gillian Welch - 'Revival'

Big & Rich - 'Horse of a Different Color'

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - 'Raising Sand'

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6 Comments

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MarkK

Just ran across this list surfing the web. I don't know how I missed it in 08. Maybe I subconsciously didn't want to see it. It surely must be an EW inside joke. No George Jones or Tammy Wynette, no Kitty Wells, no Carter Family, no Alan Jackson, no Randy Travis, and the only Loretta Lynn is Van Lear Rose (which is great, but it's not representative of Loretta Lynn). And yet they managed to find room for a weak and uninspired Elvis Costello album (on which he COVERS a George Jones hit), some other good and interesting discs (Robbie Fulks, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss) that don't merit inclusion on any kind of essential country albums list, and random country-pop discs (Shania Twain, Gretchen Wilson) but not Garth Brooks. This is a list, all right, and some of the titles may be essential on some list, but not on an "essential country albums" list that only includes 25 titles. This is an huge disservice to readers. Maybe it's an attempt to be clever or tongue-in-cheek (though I don't get the joke), but it comes at the expense of credibility.

July 17 2010 at 9:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Patrick

On my iPod, I have: At Folsom Prison, Home, Van Lear Rose, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Coat of Many Colors, Here for the Party, Come on Over, Horse of a Different Color and Raising Sand. Home is one of my favorite albums of all-time, so I definetly have a soft spot for this list

May 13 2010 at 11:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Matt

I agree that Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, and George Strait all need to be on this list, and perhaps instead of Shania Twain's "Come on Over", this list should include her album "The Woman in Me" and instead of Dixie Chicks' "Home", rather "Not Ready to Make Nice". I would also include Nickel Creek's namesake album, if you would consider it country, in the place of an album that is bluegrass based, as an example of more modern bluegrass infused country.

May 23 2008 at 1:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bill

Good list, but I would certainly add George Jones-Super Hits and any album by Alan Jackson.

May 22 2008 at 7:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Linda

Diverse list for sure, but you can't leave Garth off an "essential country" list. He's the best selling artist of all time (of any genre!) and definitely deserves a place here. Throw in one of his greatest hits CDs and you've got yourself a great list here Entertainment Weekly.

May 21 2008 at 10:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Linda

I agree in the inclusion of a Dixie Chicks album here, but it should've been Fly instead of Home! Fly is an AMAZING album from start to finish.

May 21 2008 at 10:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply