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
is one of the greats of the '80s and '90s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine