John Michael Montgomery checks into rehab

Time Flies

Since his debut in 1992, John Michael Montgomery built a solid career on a foundation of power ballads and uptempo humorous songs. Forming his own label could have offered an opportunity to break that mold. Instead, this is, for the most part, the same album he's put out in the past. There are the requisite good ol' boy humor songs, none with the charm of Sold (The Grundy Country Auction Incident). There's also a string of indistinguishable ballads that don't approach the bar ...

Mr. Snowman

A decade after his debut hit, "Life's a Dance," John Michael Montgomery releases his first Christmas album, which is also his first co-producing effort. The 10-song disc contains 7 holiday classics and 3 new tunes. Montgomery does well with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and the instrumental solos, from guitar to fiddle to steel guitar, are solid. On the other hand, Montgomery's voice and phrasing aren't a good fit for the big-band arrangement of "Winter Wonderland." He sounds like he's ...

The Very Best of John Michael Montgomery

John Michael Montgomery was a product of the hat act scene of the '90s. The line dancing craze where a number of telegenic singers put out albums and maybe had a hit was in full swing. But most of them did not last (remember David Kerr?) given their lack of talent in flavor-of-the-month times. Montgomery managed to forge a much longer career than just about any of them. He has benefited from a pretty decent baritone, though hardly spectacular, but probably moreso from choosing good songs. ...