Tight Rope
For the first time, we have a Brooks & Dunn album without a single song cowritten by the two singers. Moreover, the six songs written by Kix Brooks (three with Bob DiPiero) were coproduced by the duo and Don Cook, while the six written by Ronnie Dunn (five with Terry McBride) were coproduced by the duo and Byron Gallimore. It's almost as if this weren't a duo album but rather two solo albums scrambled together. This sharp division of labor may weaken the album in terms of consistency, but it frees Dunn to croon a pair of hard-country ballads--"Hurt Train" and "Too Far This Time"--and to prove once and for all that he's one of the finest honky-tonk singers of his generation. And when Dunn switches to country-pop on the catchy original "You'll Always Be Loved by Me" or on the inspired fiddle-and-steel remake ofJohn Waite's 1984 rock hit "Missing You," the vocals retain that same emotional transparency and drawling resonance. As for Brooks, well, he's a great live entertainer.--Geoffrey Himes