If you’re like me, you’re probably a bit cynical about the music coming out of today’s Nashville hit factory. Unfortunately, we appear to be back in the age of the Urban Cowboy—too many cookie-cutter cowboy wannabes dressing like George Strait, but singing more like Michael Bolton. Well, Patty Loveless is here to prove that when Nashville gets it right, it can produce some truly great music.

Possessing perhaps the finest voice in country (pure high, lonesome, and Appalachian) and the true gift of recognizing great songwriting when she sees it, Loveless has recorded a mountain of great music over the course of her career. Classics rounds up her best from the past couple of years, and while I prefer her first greatest hits album that focuses on her earlier material, Classics is proof that Loveless has never lost a step throughout her career.