Show me that smile again, don't waste another minute on your crying...

Ah, the 80's. As much as that decade was a fertile one for pop and rock music, it was pretty much a septic pool in country music. Don't let any of those idiotic so-called "traditionalist" country music fans tell you otherwise. Current country music has nothing on the late 70s early 80s in term of plain old cheese. And not even good cheese. Velveeta. Hard Velveeta. Gone were most anything sounding "country", and in goes electronic drumpads, synths up the wazoo, and a sterile production that makes Kraftwerk seem like Aretha Franklin. Now occasionally this cheese is fleetingly good. And in small and varied doses even enjoyable. However put together, especially if by one artist, it can be grating.

Case in point - Louise Mandrell's Anthology. Compiling 21 of her best-known songs, while Anthology does succeed in chronicling the most successful single Mandrell had, as a listen its about a dozen songs too many. She had 5 top-10 country songs in her career, and they're all here, with her biggest, "I Wanna Say Yes", the most enjoyable song on here, with it's almost ABBA-like backing vocals, and fun vibe. "Save Me" has a good chorus that overshadows a duller verse, and "Some Of My Best Friends Are Old Songs" is more authentic than a majority of the rest. "Goodbye Heartache" is a passable rewrite of Dottie West's "Lesson In Leavin'", while "(You Sure Know Your Way) Around My Heart" would feel at home on an old Olivia Newton-John album, with it's slick production contrasting the raspier-than-usual vocals. And uber-pop god Eric Carmen comes up three times, twice in his compositions ("I Wanna Hear It From Your Lips" and "Maybe My Baby") and once in a duet on the theme from Growing Pains, "As Long As We Got Each Other", while former hubby R.C. Bannon shows up on four numbers, though his voice is no match for even hers. The remainder of the album was standard unmemorable pop-country trifle. For fans of country like Ronnie Milsap, her sister Barbara, and the Oak Ridge Boys, Anthology is worth the find to get all the hits. To the casual country listener, better to find scattered 80s compilations with a song of hers on it.

Grade: C
Best Cuts: "I Wanna Say Yes"
Weakest Links: "Reunited", "Jean Paul", Some Girls Have All The Luck"

"Reunited" hit #13 country.
"Where There's Smoke There's Fire" hit #35 country.
"(You Sure Know Your Way) Around My Heart" made #35 country.
"Our Wedding Band" made #56 country.
"Some Of My Best Friends Are Old Songs" hit #20 country.
"Romance" hit #22 country.
"Christmas Is Just A Song For Us This Year" made #35 country.
"Save Me" made #6 country.
"Too Hot To Sleep" hit #10 country.
"Runaway Heart" hit #13 country.
"I'm Not Through Loving You Yet" made #7 country.
"Goodbye Heartache" made #24 country.
"This Bed's Not Big Enough" hit #52 country.
"Maybe My Baby" hit #8 country.
"I Wanna Say Yes" made #5 country.
"Some Girls Have All The Luck" made #22 country.
"I Wanna Hear It From Your Lips" hit #35 country.
"Do I Have To Say Goodbye" hit #28 country.
"Tender Time" made #74 country.
"As Long As We Got Each Other" made #51 country.

You can pick up Anthology at websites like here and here.

To listen to the track "I Wanna Say Yes", you can click here to download (rightclick to bring it up in another window).

And here's a concert rendition of the top-10 "Too Hot To Sleep"...