Legendary is a word supposedly denoting magnitude, which in today's world of random superlatives in entertainment journalism, is too often tossed around like a sack of 'taters.

Here it fits.

Editors and reviewers agree that at times greatest hits compilations are the most difficult to write, because there is so little to say. If you like the artist, then who WOULDN'T buy a disc of dozens of their hits, while if you don't, then who would touch said CD with a ten-foot pole?

If you are a true country music aficionado, there is no real point discussing whether you LIKE "Merle Haggard" or not. He just...IS. Sort of like if you like classical music or not. It is irrelevant whether you happen to favor Beethoven or Mozart yourself...they just ARE.

And here are all the proofs. There is no real need to go over every single legendary song on this disc. They are simply all here. The ONLY exception that can come to my mind is that this reviewer would have rather had the Hag's paean to Elvis "From Graceland To The Promised Land" in place of such included '80s hokum as "Let's Chase Each Other Around The Room Tonight" and "Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star," but this is hair-splitting.

It's ALL here folks. "Okie from Muskogee," "Daddy Frank," "Branded Man," "It's Not Love," "Sing Me Back Home" - this CD is a veritable history of country music.

The only problem I had in gushing over this review is something that faces musicians and writers all the time. HOW (and SHOULD) you separate artists from their art? From seeing Merle live, so drunk/stoned he couldn't get to the stage unassisted, and hearing his dissertations about wife-beating, it was difficult to not want to rail at the hypocrisy of a man who became indeed LEGENDARY by telling us "We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee..." No, we just pitch our wives out of moving vehicles and have to start "Rainbow Stew" over ten times because we are too blasted.

But, again to show the power of this man and his music, I was moved to borderline tears at this anecdote in the CD liners by another legend Johnny Cash, "I value Merle's friendship more than any other earthly thing. I was lying slipping in and out of a coma of death. A man walked quietly into my room and didn't say a word. He put his arms around me and held me gripping me as if he was afraid to let go...I opened my eyes briefly and said is that you, Hag?...That one moment is more precious to me than any time of my life."

That can serve as a whole metaphor for Country Music. It's about being an imperfect, possibly abusive and drunken, imperfect person in an imperfect world and still have grace within you that you can demonstrate with others. It's about cheating and lying and forgiveness and love and pain.

Merle haggard IS country music.

Anyone who gives a whit about the genre should get this disc immediately.