This Is Me
This Is Meis Randy Travis's strongest album since the stunning 1986 debutStorms of Life. As on that project, Travis has taken the time to pick 10 tunes that are all potential singles. The combination of strong songs and Travis's rich baritone, smooth and dark as apple butter, should win over anyone looking for real country music and not just a substitute for the soft rock of yesteryear. Travis is still an unreconstructed traditionalist; the material may be fresh off Music Row, but he gives it a honky-tonk twang and a touch of Western swing. On the title song, a plea for an estranged lover to at least talk to the singer, he adds a trace of astonishment that things have deteriorated so far. It's little touches like that that make Travis one of the finest singers in American music today, andThis Is Meis as good an album as he's ever made.--Geoffrey Himes