Last Chance for a Thousand Years: Greatest Hits from the 90's

1	Turn It on, Turn It up, Turn Me Loose 3:24
2	You're the One 4:01
3	It Only Hurts When I Cry 2:35
4	The Heart That You Own 3:10
5	Suspicious Minds 3:54
6	Thinking About Leaving 3:55
7	A Thousand Miles from Nowhere 4:29
8	Ain't That Lonely Yet 3:20
9	Fast as You 4:47
10	Pocket of a Clown 2:56
11	Sorry You Asked? 3:25
12	Nothing 3:55
13	I'll Go Back to Her 3:31
14	Crazy Little Thing Called Love 2:22

Barnes & Noble

From the first twanging guitar licks of "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose" to the sprightly remake of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (currently energizing Gap ads on TV), Dwight Yoakam's survey of his '90s hits plays like a great country album, a great rock 'n' roll album and a great honky-tonk album all at once. Which makes a fine case for Yoakam as one of the most important country artists of his generation. There's not a bad or indifferent song here; many are Yoakam originals marked by the economy and emotional directness he learned well during his misspent youth, when he preferred Buck Owens to baseball. The few covers -- notably "Suspicious Minds" (Yoakam has proven himself the King's foremost interpreter) and "Ain't That Lonely Yet," the gut-wrenching saga of love gone wrong -- are delivered with the ferocity of personal testament. Driving it all home are Yoakam's powerful vocals (a nasal whine that carries loads of heartbreak and pride in a single phrase), and Pete Anderson's edgy production flourishes. As a bonus, Yoakam cut three new songs: the Queen hit; an unforgiving Waylon Jennings number, "I'll Go Back to Her"; and a startling new effort co-written with Rodney Crowell, "Thinking About Leaving," which sounds like one of Crowell's finest songs. The '90s have been alright for Dwight. David McGee

All Music Guide

During the '90s, Dwight Yoakam settled into a weird role. No longer a representative of the cutting edge, the way he was in the '80s, he was nevertheless far too restless and young to become an elder statesman. Instead, he followed his own path, which resulted in a series of albums that were (arguably) every bit as rewarding as his '80s efforts. And, like his '80s recordings, his '90s albums stood as cohesive, individual entities that nevertheless boasted several great singles apiece. Which is a roundabout way of saying that Yoakam was as much a singles artist as he was an album artist, and that's why his second compilation, Last Chance for a Thousand Years: Greatest Hits from the '90s, is every bit as entertaining and revelatory as Just Lookin' for a Hit. It is true that the hits didn't arrive as fast and furious in the latter half of the '90s as they did in the first, but the quality of the singles didn't dip at all, as this terrific disc proves. All of the 11 singles -- including "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose," "It Only Hurts When I Cry," "A Thousand Miles from Nowhere," "Ain't That Lonely Yet," "Fast As You," "Sorry You Asked" -- sound like modern classics, and the two previously unreleased cuts ("Thinking About Leaving," "I'll Go Back to Her"), plus his cover of Queen's stab at rockabilly, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," nearly match that standard. And if it is true that country artists can be judged by their singles comps, as some have alleged over the years, then Last Chance for a Thousand Miles proves that Yoakam is one of the greats of the '80s and '90s. Stephen Thomas Erlewine