With an angelic tenor voice, it is probably unavoidable that Collin Raye would emphasize love songs on all of his albums. But as this "best of" makes quite clear on number like his breakthrough hit "Love, Me" and the poignant "In This Life," that isn't necessarily a bad thing. No other man in country is better at crooning about love than Raye. This set also contains some of Raye's rowdier smashes ("That's My Story," "Little Red Rodeo," "My Kind Of Girl") amidst the sentiment for much needed balance. Additionally, Raye has proven adept at messages songs like "Little Rock" (alcoholism) and "I Think About You" (domestic violence) that rank among the most substantial recordings put out in the country genre during the '90s.

I rate 16 BIGGEST HITS as the strongest Raye retrospective - stronger even than DIRECT HITS - for a number of reasons. It includes two more tracks for starters. Every single here was also a top 10 hit, whereas a few recordings on DIRECT HITS like "The Gift" and "Open Arms," while great, did not even crack the top 30. This collection also includes hits throughout Raye's tenure at Sony, including such gems as "I Can Still Feel You," "Couldn't Last A Moment," and "Someone You Used To Know" which came out after DIRECT HITS in 1997. Finally, this cd includes my favorite uptempo Raye hit "On The Verge," a # 2 smash inexplicably left off DIRECT HITS even though it predated that set. So, if you haven't already, get this disc today!