Due to high sales of Rimes's debut album, Blue,[6]Curb Records used several tracks recorded from Rimes' commercial album, All That,[7][8] all of which were recorded when Rimes was eleven years old.[9][8] The only songs not recorded prior to Blue is Rimes's cover of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and the song "River of Love". "Unchained Melody" was originally released on a single as a B-side track with "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)" and again on the promotional CD single, "Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart", at Target stores during the 1996 Christmas season alongside Rimes's debut album[10][11] before being released as a single on its own in December 1996. The compilation album was released on February 11, 1997, by Curb Records.[12]
Despite Rimes also being a country singer, her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" is done in the style of Whitney Houston's R&B cover.
Jose F. Promis of AllMusic gave the album two and a half out of five stars stating that it's "a tad bizarre" due to the album consisting of recordings released prior to Blue, that were recorded when Rimes was eleven years old, as a follow-up to her debut album.[13]
Credits for Unchained Melody: The Early Years were adapted from liner notes of All That.[7] Additional credits adapted from liner notes of the album.[1]
Unchained Melody: The Early Years debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 with 166,000 copies sold in the week ending of March 1, 1997,[14] it dropped to #2 in its second week with 133,500 copies sold.[15]
^Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart (CD single). LeAnn Rimes. Curb Records. 1996. PRCD-6945-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)