Highways & Dance Halls (Capitol Nashville, 2000)

The three-year wait for Tyler (formerly known as "Ty" in his younger days) England may well have been worth it. The man who once gave us "Should've Asked Her Faster" crafted an easy going, country album with a mix of honky tonk, twang and a Tex-Mex vibe as the strong points.

And if this is indicative of the kind of production work that Garth Brooks is capable of - England was his guitarist in a former life - then Brooks may have a future here. While contributing on harmonies and acoustic guitar, Brooks does not give birth to Garth Jr. England stands on his own two feet with a slew of quality songs from the lyrically fun opener "My Baby No Esta Aqui No More" to his cover of Bruce Robison's "She Don't Care About Me" to a new closing version of "Should've Asked Her Faster" (acoustic based, more spare then the original) with Steve Wariner helping out.

A few ballads ("Too Many Highways") don't do England much justice, but aside from those few missteps, England underscores once again that the wait - for quality music anyway - is the hardest part.