For the Record


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

Song listing

;Disc 1
  1. "Five O'Clock 500" – 3:36A
  2. "Keepin' Up" – 3:05A
  3. "How Do You Fall in Love" – 3:00A
  4. "Tennessee River" – 3:02
  5. "Why Lady Why" – 3:09
  6. "Old Flame" – 3:10
  7. "Feels So Right" – 3:35
  8. "Love in the First Degree" – 3:18
  9. "Mountain Music" – 3:38
  10. "Take Me Down" – 3:43
  11. "Close Enough to Perfect" –3:33
  12. "Dixieland Delight" – 3:56
  13. "The Closer You Get" – 3:37
  14. "Lady Down on Love" – 3:57
  15. "Roll On " – 3:43
  16. "When We Make Love" – 3:36
  17. "If You're Gonna Play in Texas " – 3:22
  18. " Fire in the Night" – 3:57
  19. "There's No Way" – 4:11
  20. "40 Hour Week " – 3:18
  21. "Can't Keep a Good Man Down" – 3:39
  22. "She and I" – 3:34
;Disc 2
  1. "Touch Me When We're Dancing" – 3:41
  2. ""You've Got" the Touch" – 4:15
  3. "Face to Face" – 3:00
  4. "Fallin' Again" – 3:59
  5. "Song of the South" – 3:11
  6. "If I Had You" – 3:33
  7. "High Cotton" – 3:00
  8. "Southern Star" – 3:08
  9. "Jukebox in My Mind" – 3:39
  10. "Forever's as Far as I'll Go" – 3:33
  11. "Down Home" – 3:27
  12. "Here We Are" – 2:51
  13. "Then Again" – 3:43
  14. "Born Country" – 3:19
  15. "I'm in a Hurry " – 2:48
  16. "Once Upon a Lifetime" – 4:13
  17. "Hometown Honeymoon" – 3:18
  18. "Reckless" – 3:19
  19. "Give Me One More Shot" – 3:29
  20. "She Ain't Your Ordinary Girl" – 2:53
  21. "In Pictures" – 3:33
  22. "Sad Lookin' Moon" – 3:33
A DVD was released with Alabama performing all 41 Number One Hits at Las Vegas on October 10, 1998.
;Track listing
  1. "Tennessee River"
  2. "Why Lady Why"
  3. "Old Flame"
  4. "Feels So Right"
  5. "Love in the First Degree"
  6. "Mountain Music"
  7. "Take Me Down"
  8. "Close Enough to Perfect"
  9. "Dixieland Delight"
  10. "The Closer You Get"
  11. "Lady Down on Love"
  12. "Roll On "
  13. "When We Make Love"
  14. "If You're Gonna Play in Texas "
  15. " Fire in the Night"
  16. "There's No Way"
  17. "40 Hour Week "
  18. "Can't Keep a Good Man Down"
  19. "She and I"
  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"
  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"
  32. "Then Again"
  33. "Born Country"
  34. "I'm in a Hurry "
  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"
  42. "My Home's in Alabama"

    Personnel on Tracks 1-3 (Disk #1)

;Alabama
;Additional Musicians
;As For the Record
Chart Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums2
U.S. Billboard 20013
Canadian RPM Country Albums4

;As The Essential
Chart Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums52

Certifications