Brooks, Kid Rock join Jones finale

Sweet Southern Sugar

Kid Rock ended his association with Warner Brothers Records and moved to the Nashville-based BBR Records (a division of BMG), home of stars like Jason Aldean and Trace Adkins, and the name of the album certainly evokes Dixie, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's morphing into Kid Country. After all, his lengthy Wikipedia page lists several eras in the man's career - the hip-hop era, the rap-rock era, the heartland rock era, et cetera - and there's no reason to think that this ...

Gunslinger

If naming your release "Gunslinger," you'd better let it rip and go for a harder country sound, especially if donning a black cowboy hat on the cover. The reality does not exactly match that sentiment for Garth Brooks, but at times he comes mighty close. The high points for Brooks are the three most traditional country songs - a couple of honky tonkers ("Honky-Tonk Somewhere" and "Cowboys and Friends") and a ballad ("Whiskey to Wine"). ...

Man Against Machine

After releasing his debut album in 1989, Garth Brooks released music almost every year until he announced his retirement in 2000. Since then, he has released repackaged hit collections, new music on "Scarecrow" and "The Lost Sessions" and last year's cover song collection "Blame it All on My Roots." Over the years, there have been live recordings, concert and music video collections. The country songwriter became a pop culture icon, transcending genre to become ...