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"Always Never The Same"
George Strait's work in the '90s is
like a hall of mirrors: each new million-seller mirrors the previous
million-seller, which mirrors the one that came before. And yet
the master's touch never fails, and the music charms and sometimes
thrills. Drawing again on his steady stable of writers--Jim Lauderdale,
Dean Dillon, Steve Bogard, and Jeff Stevens--and adding Melba
Montgomery's careful pen, Strait's latest is a fitting end to
a decade he helped define for country music. The material isn't
especially impressive given the routine, radio-safe themes, and
his band--the crème de la crème of Nashville plays
impeccably but with little distinction. Still, even the middling
material, delivered in his lush, plangent tenor, has hit potential.
--Roy Kasten |
