music

Brooks & Dunn

#1s . . . and then some

With the news that Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn will go their separate ways after a farewell tour next year, the two new tracks on this career-spanning two-CD compilation likely represent the last new music we’ll hear from country’s most successful duo. The impending split also means that #1s … and then some offers a comprehensive portrait of Brooks & Dunn’s nearly two decades at the forefront of commercial country, and as such it demonstrates both their consistency and the timelessness of their formula—sequenced here non-chronologically, the shifts between songs recorded as much as a decade and a half apart are never jarring.
Ronnie Dunn sang most of the duo’s singles, so #1s … and then some (like previous Brooks & Dunn compilations) is much heavier on the “Dunn” than on the “Brooks.” But Kix-sung hits like “Rock My World (Little Country Girl),” judiciously parceled out through the nearly two-hour running time, provide a strong element of variety. If #1s … and then some is the last word from Brooks & Dunn, it’s a worthy farewell.

• October 5, 2009
• by Chris Neal