Tammy Wynette - Love Songs (2003)

Though it probably would've been easier to compile a collection of Tammy Wynette breakup songs, Love Songs does a good job of gathering some of the lighter and more optimistic songs from the '60s and '70s. The compilation's mood ranges from lovelorn but hopeful on songs like "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and the classics "Take Me to Your World" and "'Til I Get It Right"; deeply romantic on "No One Else in the World"; and devoted on "If You Think I Love You Now," "Walk Through This World With Me," and of course, "Stand by Your Man." Indeed, songs such as "Loving You Could Never Be Better" and "Right Here in Your Arms" are a welcome reminder that not all of her songs were about unhappy endings and surviving them. Granted, most of her definitive songs were about those topics, and as such, Love Songs doesn't feature as many of her absolutely essential moments as a more straightforward greatest-hits collection might, but even relatively lightweight tracks such as "The Twelfth of Never" and "The Hawaiian Wedding Song" reaffirm just how consistently well-crafted all the work she did in the '60s and '70s was. Including some of Wynette's duets with George Jones would've taken the collection's swoon factor to another level, but as it stands Love Songs is a refreshing and romantic collection of her work. © Heather Phares