Vince Gill is coming to the Rockford Metro Centre in February and that would seem to be as good a reason as any to have a look at his latest release - These Days. Whether you like country music or not there should be things on this package to enjoy. Without question you have to respect the man, his music and his passion for his art. When he could have done the expected and produced a new CD, Gill has outdone himself by putting out a massive four-disc collection of new material - that's not something you see many artists doing.

As one might expect with such a massive undertaking, These Days truly shows many sides to Gill's musical tastes and his art. In fact, he has even divided the set along thematic (musically) lines, which tends to make it an easier thing to enjoy. Set up with one disc devoted to more rock oriented sounds, one to more "groovy" sounds, one to old school "country & western" and one to acoustic music, it's pretty simple to pick out the CD that fits your mood. That's really a nice touch.

While I can tell you that not everything on this set fits into my particular musical taste, I can also tell you that nothing here feels "half done" or not worthy of inclusion on a CD. It's obvious that this collection was put together with quality in mind - the quantity just sort of happened on the way. Actually as the book that comes with the CD (more on that shortly) says, Gill never intended to produce such a massive collection - it just evolved that way as the process progressed. That evolution also brought in a whole host of guests from a wide musical spectrum throughout the course of these discs (names like Sheryl Crow, Amy Grant, Phil Everly, Michael McDonald, Trisha Yearwood and Gretchen Wilson - and that's only a few) to make it even more special.

About that book. Even that is a class act. When you first open the set up, it seems likely that the whole of the packging will impress you. First all the CD's (the actual discs are the "digipack" variety - the cardboard sleeves with plastic trays) are encased in a box that reminds me a lot of old 45 collections - if you've ever seen the boxes that records came in. In any event, when you glance at the set you'll think there are actually five CD's. That's because the book that comes with this is no small offering. It's the size of one of the discs and takes it's place right alongside the music as a companion for the trip.

The varied musical mix on this set means that it should appeal to a wide range of fans. As someone who comes into this with a rock background, I can tell you that people with similar tastes will probably enjoy all of disc one and two and a lot of the fourth disc. Those who are more pure old school country will be drawn to disc three, but probably find things to enjoy on all the other CD's. The point I'm making is, no matter where your musical tastes lie (within the rock, pop, country and blues genres, anyway) you can find plenty to like here. And when you take into account that the set is priced at just a little over what is charged for some single CD releases, that makes it worth picking up.