Urban plays with Stones

THE SPEED OF NOW Part 1

It's getting tougher and tougher all the time to justify categorizing Keith Urban's music as country. "The Speed of Now, Pt. 1" doesn't help. (What, is there a pt. 2 of this largely lame music on the way? Say it ain't so!) It's a relatively good pop album, for a Nashville pop effort, but there's just too much real country (Jon Pardi, Luke Combs) getting played on mainstream radio these days. The world just doesn't really need new Urban pop music. ...

Graffiti U

It's telling how two songs on Keith Urban's "Graffiti U" album chug along to a reggae beat because pop rhythms and non-country elements are the obvious inspirations for this collection. Opener "Coming Home" may borrow (steal?) a guitar riff from Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried," but this is where that country road begins and ends. Urban follows "Coming Home" with "Never Comin' Down," which is introduced with a funky bass line ...

Ripcord

Even though Keith Urban's single, "Wasted Time," borrows more than a little sonic sensibility from electronic music, there's still an upfront banjo solo. And this is how it's always been with Urban. He may play the part of the guitar hero at times, and even revealed his eclectic musical knowledge as a judge on American Idol, but Urban will always be a country boy at heart. And boyish good looks and talent have taken this country boy far, too. The wonderfully titled ...