Next Big Thing
Having earned respect for creating mainstream country that proudly maintains a deep vein of traditional elements, Vince Gill draws from a broader palette on this unusually lengthy offering of originals and collaborations. Honoring styles that inspired him, he zigzags from rockabilly (the opening title track) to theBeatle-esqueballad "Someday" (cowritten withRichard Marx) into unfettered traditionalism on the shuffle "Without You," the majestic "Two Hearts," and theMerle Haggardtribute "Real Mean Bottle." His philosophical "Young Man's Town" could easily be a commentary on today's Nashville. While he could have dropped a couple of the more-mundane numbers (especially the clichéd cantina ditty "We Had It All"), he projects the same clean consistency that's marked all his work. True, he takes few risks, but then the cutting edge was never his chosen place. And as the album's sole producer, he shows better sense than most current Nashville producers. Gill, the omnipresent guest harmony singer on so many others' records, used surprisingly few guests himself, which keeps the focus where it belongs.--Rich Kienzle