The iron man of country music
George Strait’s numbers are eye-popping: 30 years, 24 chart-topping albums, 57 chart-topping singles, 69 million records sold. 84 of his 89 radio singles have cracked the Top 10 – second only to Eddy Arnold (who notched 92!). It’s a streak worthy of Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripkin Jr. One could wonder whether his fame has simply become self-sustaining, but the music industry is littered with acts who maintained their success for a few years or a decade, but few have sustained Strait’s level of commercial success for thirty years. During those three decades, the artistic reach of Strait’s albums has waxed and waned, but he’s never seemed less than sincere or involved by the songs, and he’s never strayed far from his country roots.
The past few years have seen some high points, including the neon honky-tonk glow of 2003’s Honkytonkville and his return to songwriting on last year’s Twang. This year’s model is notable more for its consistency, including his continued songwriting with his son, than for anything particularly new. Strait sings with his usual ease as he extols the healing power of love and is equally convincing as he voices an alcoholic’s weakness. He lays some deep experience into Jesse Winchester’s oft-covered “A Showman’s Life,†and delights in covering Delbert McLinton’s “Lonestar Blues.†The standard Nashville mix of good times and romantic discord fills out a solidly traditional, if not particularly revelatory album. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com] 