Like most of the entries in Hip-O's excellent
Ultimate Collection, Barbara Mandrell's volume of
Ultimate Collection pretty much fulfills the promise of the title, offering 23 tracks, including nearly all of her biggest hits. A few cuts are indeed missing, but all the iconic numbers are here -- "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed," "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool," "Happy Birthday Dear Heartache" among them -- and the quality of the material is consistently high, making this a great summary of her career. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine