For the Record

For the Record is a two-disc, 44-track greatest hits package released by the American country music band Alabama.

For the Record
Greatest hits album by Alabama
Released	August 25, 1998
Recorded	1998 (Disc 1, Tracks 1-3) 1980-1997 (other tracks)
Genre	Country
Label	RCA Nashville
Producer	Alabama and Don Cook (Disc 1, Tracks 1-3) Various original producers (other tracks)
Alabama chronology
The Essential Alabama (1998) For the Record (1998) Twentieth Century (1999)
Singles from For the Record
"How Do You Fall in Love" Released: August 1, 1998 "Keepin' Up" Released: November 23, 1998

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

The album chronicles the biggest hits from Alabama released between 1980 and 1998. The lineup includes all 33 of their Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles & Tracks No. 1 singles, as well as other songs which reached number one on the former Radio & Records (now Mediabase) charts; each of the non-Billboard No. 1 hits made the top 5 on that chart.

Three new tracks are also included. Of these, "How Do You Fall in Love" reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in late 1998. The follow-up single, "Keepin' Up", reached the Top 20 in early 1999, while "Five O'Clock 500" was not released as a single.

All of the greatest hits are presented in their single/radio edit forms; in some cases, the songs were nearly two minutes shorter than their original album versions.

The Essential

For the Record was re-released and re-packaged in 2005 as The Essential. Both albums have an identical track lineup. In his review of The Essential, Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated that the new album title eliminated "the misleading subtitle that claimed all of the songs on the album hit No. 1."[2] A disclaimer on the back of the album indicates that The Essential is the reissued For the Record.

Sales

The original For the Record album was certified platinum for sales of 5 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America.[3]

Song listing

Disc 1

1. "Five O'Clock 500" (Teddy Gentry, Randy Owen, Ronnie Rogers) – 3:36^A
2. "Keepin' Up" (Greg Fowler, Gentry, Owen, Rogers) – 3:05^A
3. "How Do You Fall in Love" (Fowler, Gentry, Owen) – 3:00^A
4. "Tennessee River" (Owen) – 3:02
5. "Why Lady Why" (Gentry, Rick Scott) – 3:09
6. "Old Flame" (Donny Lowery, Mac McAnally) – 3:10
7. "Feels So Right" (Owen) – 3:35
8. "Love in the First Degree" (Tim DuBois, Jim Hurt) – 3:18
9. "Mountain Music" (Owen) – 3:38
10. "Take Me Down" (Mark Gray, J.P. Pennington) – 3:43
11. "Close Enough to Perfect" (Carl Chambers) –3:33
12. "Dixieland Delight" (Rogers) – 3:56
13. "The Closer You Get" (Gray, Pennington) – 3:37
14. "Lady Down on Love" (Owen) – 3:57
15. "Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)" (Dave Loggins) – 3:43
16. "When We Make Love" (Troy Seals, Mentor Williams) – 3:36
17. "If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)" (Murry Kellum, Dan Mitchell) – 3:22
18. "(There's A) Fire in the Night" (Bob Corbin) – 3:57
19. "There's No Way" (John Jarrard, Lisa Palas, Will Robinson) – 4:11
20. "40 Hour Week (For a Livin')" (Loggins, Don Schlitz, Lisa Silver) – 3:18
21. "Can't Keep a Good Man Down" (Corbin) – 3:39
22. "She and I" (Loggins) – 3:34

Disc 2

1. "Touch Me When We're Dancing" (Kenneth Bell, Terry Skinner, J.L. Wallace) – 3:41
2. ""You've Got" the Touch" (Jarrard, Palas, Robinson) – 4:15
3. "Face to Face" (Owen) – 3:00
4. "Fallin' Again" (Fowler, Gentry, Owen) – 3:59
5. "Song of the South" (Bob McDill) – 3:11
6. "If I Had You" (Kerry Chater, Danny Mayo) – 3:33
7. "High Cotton" (Scott Anders, Roger Murrah) – 3:00
8. "Southern Star" (Rich Alves, Steve Dean, Murrah) – 3:08
9. "Jukebox in My Mind" (Dave Gibson, Rogers) – 3:39
10. "Forever's as Far as I'll Go" (Mike Reid) – 3:33
11. "Down Home" (Rick Bowles, Josh Leo) – 3:27
12. "Here We Are" (Beth Nielsen Chapman, Vince Gill) – 2:51
13. "Then Again" (Bowles, Jeff Silbar) – 3:43
14. "Born Country" (Byron Hill, John Schweers) – 3:19
15. "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)" (Murrah, Randy VanWarmer) – 2:48
16. "Once Upon a Lifetime" (Gary Baker, Frank J. Myers) – 4:13
17. "Hometown Honeymoon" (Leo, Jim Photoglo) – 3:18
18. "Reckless" (Michael Clark, Jeff Stevens) – 3:19
19. "Give Me One More Shot" (Gentry, Owen, Rogers) – 3:29
20. "She Ain't Your Ordinary Girl" (Robert Jason) – 2:53
21. "In Pictures" (Bobby E. Boyd, Joe Doyle) – 3:33
22. "Sad Lookin' Moon" (Fowler, Gentry, Owen) – 3:33

• ^A Previously unreleased

Live DVD

A DVD was released with Alabama performing all 41 Number One Hits (plus My Home's In Alabama) at Las Vegas on October 10, 1998.

Track listing

1. "Tennessee River" (Extended)
2. "Why Lady Why" (Single Version)
3. "Old Flame"
4. "Feels So Right"
5. "Love in the First Degree"
6. "Mountain Music" (Extended)
7. "Take Me Down" (Single Version)
8. "Close Enough to Perfect"
9. "Dixieland Delight" (Extended)
10. "The Closer You Get" (Intro, Chorus, Bridge and Outro Only)
11. "Lady Down on Love"
12. "Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)" (Single Version)
13. "When We Make Love"
14. "If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)"
15. "(There's A) Fire in the Night"
16. "There's No Way"
17. "40 Hour Week (For a Livin')" (Extended)
18. "Can't Keep a Good Man Down"
19. "She and I" (Short Version)
20. "Touch Me When We're Dancing"
21. "'You've Got' the Touch"
22. "Face to Face"
23. "Fallin' Again"
24. "Song of the South" (Extended)
25. "If I Had You"
26. "High Cotton"
27. "Southern Star"
28. "Jukebox in My Mind"
29. "Forever's as Far as I'll Go"
30. "Down Home"
31. "Here We Are" (Extended Intro)
32. "Then Again"
33. "Born Country"
34. "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)"
35. "Once Upon a Lifetime"
36. "Hometown Honeymoon"
37. "Reckless"
38. "Give Me One More Shot"
39. "She Ain't Your Ordinary Girl"
40. "In Pictures"
41. "Sad Lookin' Moon" (Extended)
42. "My Home's in Alabama" (Extended)

Personnel on Tracks 1-3 (Disk #1)

Alabama

• Jeff Cook - background vocals
• Teddy Gentry - bass guitar, background vocals
• Randy Owen - lead vocals

Alabama's drummer, Mark Herndon, does not play on the new tracks.

Additional Musicians

• Mark Casstevens - acoustic guitar
• Don Cook - background vocals
• Steve Dorff - string arrangements, conductor
• Larry Franklin - fiddle
• John Barlow Jarvis - piano, B-3 organ
• Brent Mason - electric guitar, 12-string electric guitar, gut string guitar
• Steve Nathan - keyboards
• Lonnie Wilson - drums, percussion

Chart performance

As For the Record

Chart (1998)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	2
U.S. Billboard 200	13
Canadian RPM Country Albums	4

As The Essential

Chart (2005)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	52

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[4]	5× Platinum	5,000,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "The Essential Alabama [2005] - Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
3. "Searchable Database - Search: For the Record, author: Alabama". RIAA. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
4. "American album certifications – Alabama – For the Record". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.