Country superstar Garth Brooks is getting into the box set game once more with a 10-disc set exclusively hitting shelves at Target later this month.
The Ultimate Collection is a 121-track set that collects Brooks' past and present works across more than 25 years of recording and touring. Seven themed discs feature a plethora of hits, fan favorites and covers (including the unreleased Randy Travis cover "1982"); two live discs feature five unreleased cuts including duets with wife Trisha Yearwood, Don McLean and Billy Joel; and the set closes with the new album Gunslinger, itself augmented by two bonus tracks (including an all-star "25th anniversary edition" of the hit "Friends in Low Places" featuring guest vocals by George Strait, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line and Keith Urban).
Amazingly, this is Brooks' fourth CD box set. 1998's The Limited Series, which collected his first six studio albums with bonus tracks, was the first and only box set to debut atop the Billboard 200. A set of the same name released in 2005 was a Wal-Mart exclusive, and collected the remainder of Brooks' Capitol Nashville discography (Sevens (1997), Double Live (1998) and Scarecrow (2001)) and an outtakes collection, The Lost Sessions. That Wal-Mart exclusive trend continued with both 2006's The Entertainer (a 5-DVD collection of TV specials and videos) and 2013's Blame It All on My Roots, which featured five discs of diverse covers and the double-disc The Ultimate Hits (2007).
Brooks' astounding career, which includes an unprecedented seven diamond-certified albums by the Recording Industry Association of America, has heated up again in the last seven years. In 2009, he ended a self-imposed retirement from touring (choosing to focus on raising his children with Yearwood), undertaking a Las Vegas residency. In 2014, he released his ninth studio album, Man Against Machine, and embarked on a world tour. Brooks, long resistant to iTunes and streaming, started his own online store, GhostTunes, that same year, and has partnered with SiriusXM and Amazon to allow his catalogue to stream ahead of Gunslinger.
Brooks and Yearwood will also release a holiday duets album, Christmas Together. Both that album and The Ultimate Collection are available at Target on November 11. Fans can pre-order a bundle of both for the same price as the box itself (only $29.99). Order links are here, and the box specs are below!
Garth Brooks, The Ultimate Collection (Pearl, 2016)
Disc 1: Old School
- Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)
- If Tomorrow Never Comes
- 1982 *
- Unwound
- Longneck Bottle
- Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House
- Good Ol' Boys Like Me
- Amos Moses
- That Ol' Wind
- Alabama Clay
- White Lightning
- Don't Close Your Eyes
Tracks 1-2 and 10 from Garth Brooks (Capitol Nashville, 1989)
Tracks 4, 7-8, 9 and 11-12 from Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences (Pearl, 2013)
Track 5 from Sevens (Capitol Nashville, 1997)
Track 6 from No Fences (Capitol Nashville, 1990)
Track 9 from Fresh Horses (Capitol Nashville, 1995)
Disc 2: Midnight Fire
- Shameless
- The Red Strokes
- She's Every Woman
- What's She Doing Now
- In Another's Eyes (Duet with Trisha Yearwood)
- One Night a Day
- A Friend to Me
- Anonymous
- Victim of the Game
- Which One of Them
- More Than a Memory
- To Make You Feel My Love
Tracks 1 and 4 from Ropin' the Wind (Capitol Nashville, 1991)
Tracks 2 and 6 from In Pieces (Capitol Nashville, 1993)
Track 3 from Fresh Horses (Capitol Nashville, 1995)
Track 5 and 7 from Sevens (Capitol Nashville, 1997)
Tracks 8, 10 and 12 from The Limited Series (Pearl/Capitol Nashville, 1998)
Track 9 from No Fences (Capitol Nashville, 1990)
Track 11 from The Ultimate Hits (Pearl, 2007)
Disc 3: Cowboys
- Good Ride Cowboy
- Rodeo
- That Girl is a Cowboy
- Rodeo or Mexico
- Night Rider's Lament
- My Baby No Esta Aqui
- Cowgirl's Saddle
- Cowboy Bill
- Midnight Sun
- Rodeo and Juliet
- In Lonesome Dove
- The Cowboy Song
Tracks 1, 3 and 6 from The Lost Sessions (Pearl, 2005)
Tracks 2 and 11 from Ropin' the Wind (Capitol Nashville, 1991)
Track 4 from Scarecrow (Capitol Nashville, 2001)
Track 5 from The Chase (Liberty, 1992)
Track 8 from Garth Brooks (Capitol Nashville, 1989)
Track 9 from The Ultimate Hits (Pearl, 2007)
Track 10 from Man Against Machine (Pearl/RCA Nashville, 2014)
Track 12 from In Pieces (Capitol Nashville, 1993)
Discs 4-5: The Road
- Standing Outside the Fire
- Rodeo
- Shameless
- If Tomorrow Never Comes
- That Summer
- In Another's Eyes (Duet with Trisha Yearwood) *
- Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)
- Unanswered Prayers
- Longneck Bottle
- One Night a Day *
- To Make You Feel My Love
- Wrapped Up in You (feat. Keb' Mo')
- The River
- American Pie (feat. Don McLean) *
- The Thunder Rolls (The Long Version)
- Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House
- Two Piña Coladas
- More Than a Memory
- Good Ride Cowboy
- Wild As the Wind (Duet with Trisha Yearwood)
- Workin' for a Livin' (Duet with Huey Lewis)
- It's Your Song
- New York State of Mind (Duet with Billy Joel) *
- Midnight Sun *
- The Dance
Some tracks released on Double Live (Capitol Nashville, 1998) and Double Live: 15th Anniversary Edition (Pearl, 2014)
Disc 6: Anthems
- The Dance
- Standing Outside the Fire
- Unanswered Prayers
- Thicker Than Blood
- How You Ever Gonna Know
- The Change
- Belleau Wood
- People Loving People
- The River
- Mom
- Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream
- When You Come Back to Me Again
Track 1 from Garth Brooks (Capitol Nashville, 1989)
Track 2 from In Pieces (Capitol Nashville, 1993)
Track 3 from No Fences (Capitol Nashville, 1990)
Tracks 4 and 12 from Scarecrow (Capitol Nashville, 2001)
Tracks 5 and 7 from Sevens (Capitol Nashville, 1997)
Track 6 from Fresh Horses (Capitol Nashville, 1995)
Tracks 8 and 10 from Man Against Machine (Pearl/RCA Nashville, 2014)
Track 9 from Ropin' the Wind (Capitol Nashville, 1991)
Track 11 from The Lost Sessions (Pearl, 2005)
Disc 7: The Covers
- Against the Wind
- Sweet Home Alabama
- Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
- Robinson
- Midnight Train to Georgia
- (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay
- Hard Luck Woman (with KISS)
- Who'll Stop the Rain
- Wild World
- All Right Now
- Drift Away
- Goodnight Saigon
Tracks 1-6 and 8-12 from Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences (Pearl, 2013)
Track 7 from KISS My Ass: Classic KISS Regrooved (Mercury, 1994)
Disc 8: RPMs
- Against the Grain
- She's Tired of Boys
- Rollin'
- Addicted to Love
- Cold Like That
- You Move Me
- Ireland
- Don't Cross the River
- I'll Be the Wind
- Doctor My Eyes
- Workin' for a Livin' (Duet with Huey Lewis)
- Do What You Gotta Do
Track 1 from Ropin' the Wind (Capitol Nashville, 1991)
Tracks 2 and 5 from Man Against Machine (Pearl/RCA Nashville, 2014)
Tracks 3 and 7 from Fresh Horses (Capitol Nashville, 1995)
Tracks 4 and 10 from Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences (Pearl, 2013)
Tracks 6 and 12 from Sevens (Capitol Nashville, 1997)
Track 8 from Scarecrow (Capitol Nashville, 2001)
Track 9 from The Lost Sessions (Pearl, 2005)
Track 11 from The Ultimate Hits (Pearl, 2007)
Disc 9: Turn It Up
- The Thunder Rolls
- That Summer
- You Wreck Me
- Why Ain't I Running
- Wrapped Up in You
- I'd Rather Have Nothing
- Allison Miranda
- Black Water
- Midnight Train
- Dixie Chicken
- Man Against Machine
- Two Piña Coladas
Track 1 from No Fences (Capitol Nashville, 1990)
Tracks 2 and 10 from The Chase (Liberty, 1992)
Tracks 3, 9 and 11 from Man Against Machine (Pearl/RCA Nashville, 2014)
Tracks 4-5 from Scarecrow (Capitol Nashville, 2001)
Tracks 6-7 from The Lost Sessions (Pearl, 2005)
Track 8 from Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences (Pearl, 2013)
Track 12 from Sevens (Capitol Nashville, 1997)
Disc 10: Gunslinger
- Honky-Tonk Somewhere
- Weekend
- Ask Me How I Know
- Baby, Let's Lay Down and Dance
- He Really Loves You
- Whiskey to Wine
- BANG! BANG!
- Pure Adrenaline
- 8teen
- SugarCane
- Cowboys and Friends *
- Friends in Low Places (25th Anniversary Edition) *
Scott says
This looks like a really nice set for fans, but why 10 discs for only 121 tracks? I understand they were grouping the songs by "theme", but they could have fit the same content on probably 6 discs. Seems like a bit of overkill.
Galley says
Because he would only need to sell 100,000 copies for a platinum certification, rather than one million.
Rob Maurer says
Ding ding ding! Gotta beat those Beatles!
BTW, in the notes for Disc 4-5, it must be the 15th Anniversary of "Double Live," not the 25th.
Scott says
Can't believe I didn't think of that. The old "units" thing. I bet you are totally right. That's actually pretty smart from a business perspective. Only need 1 million sales (which shouldn't be hard at that price and holidays right around the corner) and there's another Diamond certification under his belt.
Galley says
Saw this on Wikipedia:
While released the same week that Brooks' Christmas album with Trisha Yearwood, Christmas Together, debuted at number 11, the box set was deemed ineligible to chart on the Billboard 200 due to its price per disc falling below Billboard's minimum required price in order to chart.
Randy Otto says
Thanx for the tip on the box set/Christmas Together combo pack...I just preordered it from Target.com, they did free shipping and delivery between Nov 11-17!
Randy Otto says
Correction...Delivery is scheduled between Nov 14-17...
Randy Otto says
The order arrived on the 15th...
Brian from Canada says
Not a good deal for Canadians… with shipping and taxes, it's just over $65!
Tom says
Yeah, that is disappointing. And although it says "Pay duties now", I wonder if you can still get dinged with more duties.
Sometimes HMV carries Target exclusives (without the stickers) but I doubt they will carry this. I had to buy the Alan Jackson "Genius" set last year when I was in Nashville.
Bill Janowski says
The Genuine Box Set was a Wal-Mart Exclusive when I got it - so this is widely available now??
WM's site still shows a picture with their 'Only At Wal-Mart' sticker.
Dustin says
My order shipped today - so we'll see. Garth is remastering his catalog again - which I don't understand - it was JUST remastered when he started his Digital Download service the year "Man Against Machine" came out. Strange! He did mention Vinyl a while back when someone asked on a Facebook Live stream - he said he wants to master those from the Analog tapes! So let's hope that happens soon.
Also - his "Ultimate Hits" was reissued recently too WITHOUT the third disc (DVD). The sticker says it's the final pressing.
Alan Jackson's "Genuine" Box WAS given a wider release recently. I wish UME/MCA Nashville would give Reba McEntire a proper boxed set and catalog remaster/reissue (with bonus tracks!)
MIKE: Do you guys offer guest columnists for a "Wish List" type post? If so, I have one written for a Reba McEntire box set idea! ha!
Robert Hollowood says
The Target exclusive track on Gunslinger appears to be SugarCane, not Cowboys and Friends which appears to be on the regular release. Nice set, though I hate that there's no composer or recording information here. I'm having to rely on SecondDisc.com's information to decode what's new here.
Galley says
I'm no Garth Brooks expert, but I noted a few discrepancies.
Disc 3, Track7 "Cowgirl's Saddle" is previously unreleased.
Disc 4, Tracks 6, 10, 12, 14 are previously unreleased.
Disc 5, Tracks 4 and 7 from "Double Live: 15th Anniversary Edition" (2014)
Disc 5, Tracks 5, 9 and 10 are previously unreleased.
All other tracks from Discs 4 and 5 from "Double Live" (1998)
Disc 10: "Sugar Cane" is a Target-exclusive track. "Cowboys and Friends" is from the standard edition.