Killin Time
When this debut album came out in 1989, Clint Black was poised to be bigger than contemporaneous debut artist Garth Brooks. It didn't happen--Garth had friends in low places--but of all the talent-rich Nashville Class of '89 (which also included Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt), Black's built the most consistently top-of-the-line body of work. The foundations are all here, inside the album's odd bookends (the honky-tonkin' strained analogy of "Straight from the Factory" and the country cabaret of "Live and Learn"), starting with his first hit, "A Better Man," a gracious breakup song blessed with a nifty descending guitar line. Another hit, the title track, boasts an even niftier, Duane Eddy-style hook; while a third hit, "Nobody's Home," displays Black's knack for power-shifting a slowish tune into overdrive with an unexpectedly dramatic chorus. "I'll Be Gone" features snappy guitar and foreshadows another Black trademark, the fiercely played instrumental takeouts that grace many of his later numbers.  With an expressive, warm Texas drawl, enduring songwriting abilities (almost uniquely, Black cowrites all his material), and music steeped in country's past but attuned to present-day influences, Black is one of contemporary country's consummate artists.Killin' Timeshows he had the complete package from the start.--Ken Barnes