These 17 tracks weren't "lost," exactly—more like tucked away for safekeeping. Along with a few all-new cuts, The Lost Sessions collects songs Garth left incomplete during the years before his retirement, with finishing touches applied recently.

The result is a CD that stands up fine as a "new" Garth Brooks album—the familiar combination of cowboy anthems, heartbreak laments, common-man philosophy and odes to enduring love is fully intact. A few tracks might best have stayed "lost," but the best songs here could easily have been hits—a couple, "Good Ride Cowboy" and the Trisha Yearwood duet "Love Will Always Win," have now become just that.

That latter track is one of six songs added to The Lost Sessions for its single-disc release, after appearing as one of five CDs in last year's Limited Series box set. And that's what rankles: after using these previously unreleased songs as bait to convince hard-core fans to shell out for several discs' worth of music they already owned, those same fans have to buy this new version to get the added "bonus" tracks. Nonetheless, those patiently awaiting Garth's return from retirement will be happy to find The Lost Sessions.

—Chris Neal