First thing's first, ANY group that can celebrate their 40th anniversary deserves undying accolades, and, at the very least, a compilation album to commemorate their amazing feat.  Having said that, how can 40 years possibly be summed up into 12 songs?  It can't.  Period. So, obviously, this CD is way too short.  The other problem a forty year career runs into is multiple record companies, creating the problem of song ownership, and making it difficult to have access to the entire catalog to make a proper 40 year overview.  Despite that, the Oaks did manage to score 3 MCA "glory days" songs for this release even though 40th Anniversary has been released on the Gaither record label. 

    Besides being waaaaay too short, this CD has other problems.  The subtitle of this CD is "Celebrating Faith, Family & Freedom".  I can't figure out what "Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight" or "Elvira" have to to with any of those????  While this CD does, for the most part, stick with that theme, and less to the "40th Anniversary" theme....for the true Oaks fan, this CD comes across as a hodge-podge of songs with no real direction. This is not that much different than Favorites or The Gospel Collection with the exception of a few MCA songs thrown in. 

    All these songs are gems, no doubt.  But if you're going to call a CD "40th Anniversary", how could it be anything short of a massive box set (with unreleased songs and b-sides, which I have been screaming about for years)? The Oak Ridge Boys do not release any music that is short of stellar, and it's all ear candy to say the least.  However, this CD does not live up to it's name.  12 songs just can't cover 40 years.   But I promise this....you know'em, and you'll be singing along!