Fresh Horses (Capitol Nashville, 1995)

The long wait for new material from Garth is over in what is a musically diverse disc. While too hot for country radio apparently, Brooks lets it rip on a cover of hard rocking Aerosmith's "The Fever" and tattoos the song to make it his own. Brooks races through the opening "The Old Stuff " about how life on the road used to be. Not a bad road song, but the tacked-on applause track was not needed, and it seems a bit too safe. "Rollin" packs a musical punch with Trisha Yearwood on backing vocals, but the story line - about a trucker mama - seems trite. Elsewhere, Brooks is not necessarily content to rest on his laurels, but not everything works. The closing "Ireland," a Celtic-influenced song, is adequate and not much more. "She's Every Woman" may have reached number one, but proved too clunky in the word department. Current single "The Beaches of Cheyenne, is core Brooks. He reaches inside for the haunting emotion of the cowboy's widow and her suicide. This is easily the best song among the 10. The cute "It's Midnight Cinderella" also hits the mark with nice fiddling from Rob Hajacos. Overall a good album, but certainly not Brooks' best.