Nobody could ever cast stones at her voice -- probably the most powerful, double-octave voice in contemporary Country. In the past, her albums have often been uneven. With the exception of TIMELESS and GREATEST HITS, too many of her albums featured "B-sides." Whatever she performed, though, always sounded committed and passionate.

Here, in this mind-blowing two-disk set, Martina opens an entirely new phase of her career with an extended live performance recorded last year in the Quad Cities. The set list is beautiful, with cuts from WAKING UP LAUGHING and her very best material from the past 15 years or so. Her back-up band is stellar, as well as her stage art direction, lighting and video. Except for Springsteen and the Stones, I have never seen such passion and energy on a stage. While, at times, the voice breaks or slides off pitch, it doesn't matter, because her voice and delivery radiate conviction.

The opener is my favorite -- ANYWAY -- in which the singer encourages the audience to surmount fears and self doubt in life and love and go for their dreams "anyway." It's not an easy pitch in such a bleak world, but her songs are healing and uplifting. Her pace never flags; and while she often drives her voice to the edge, the edge works, and the audience is beyond captivated.

This affordable 2-disc set includes a CD of 8 live, audiophile-quality performances which at roughly 32 minutes -- are a little short on time. The DVD, however, includes her full GREAT PERFORMANCES broadcast, and it is worth the price of the set alone. You simply won't be able to hit the PAUSE button.

One final note, because neither men nor women will fail to notice it. The singer is quite beautiful, but in a wholesome way. In a prurient world such as ours, that's really refreshing. This powerhouse set proves that fewer releases with a greater concentration of top-rank material will help spread the word about Martina McBride to more music-lovers. Without question, this lady will be around for awhile, and we are lucky to have her.

Buy now.

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if u dont like me to damn bad

After hearing her in concert while residing SE Ky this Live album by her just shows the talented voice she has. In addition her husband (John McBride) is her FOH( Front of House) sound man on every concert tour stop they preform at.