Missing Years (Montage Music Group, 2007)

The 'new" Little Texas released this album about the same time they released a live version of the band's old hits. The album proves that the group is stronger with a new identity. It has a good mix of up-tempo rockers and songs that tug at the heartstrings. Lead singer Porter Howell co-wrote 6 of the 11 songs on the new disc; drummer Del Gray and guitarist Dwayne O'Brien wrote 4 and 5 songs respectively.

"When He's Gone" immediately catches your attention. It's about a man realizing that he needs to be more devoted to his father, the person he admires the most. The title track is about a person who leaves home, moves around the U.S. and then realizes an old cliche to be true, home's where the heart is. There's the swamp rocker "Rebel" where we're reminded that "everybody's got a rebel in them" and the rollicking, "You Ain't Seen Me Lately."

But what would an LT album - old or new - be without an ode to Texas. The band gets lyrically creative with "Texas 101," sort of a mid-tempo sequel to their big hit 'God Bless Texas." In it, they take a rare light-hearted look at the Dixie Chicks controversy - "George Bush and the Dixie Chicks, Like Oil and Water, they just don't mix. Here's one thing they just might agree: if there won't no Alamo, then Texas would be Mexico."