Songs About Me (Capitol, 2005)

Trace Adkins starts off with the catchy title track and current hit single about meeting a stranger on an airplane wondering what he liked about country. And the song pretty much sums up where Adkins is coming from - "country music mixed with a little rock and a little blues."

Adkins is well served by his big baritone, which doesn't have to do all that much to be effective. He always has been a strong singer, a voice used to good effect, important considering he doesn't write songs. But while in fine vocal stead (he does a particularly good turns on the ballads "My Heaven" and "Metropolis"), one is left with an album that doesn't reach very high. This is pretty much meat and potatoes for Adkins fans. In fact, "Baby, I'm Home" follows very much in the same theme as "Hot Mama." That also means both are very catchy. And there's big sound musically with guitars too loud, as well, not surprising given that Dann Huff produced 3 of the 11 songs.The disc gets a bit strange with "Arlington" about a dead soldier giving his viewpoint about being buried at Arlington where his grandfather lay. In this age of a controversial war, it seems very odd that someone would be proud for having died seemingly achieving his goal 'we made it to Arlington."

Adkins sticks to songs and subjects he feels comfortable with, and the results work.