Bentley rises to top

Gravel & Gold

Dierks Bentley opens his first self-produced album with a song about personally stability, "Same Ol' Me." Although its lyric explains how while life circumstances may change, Bentley basically remains the same person. The same thing, though, can also be said about the country star's music. He's been recording for 20 years now. Yet Bentley has come this far with his integrity still intact. He's back with a strong, 14-song set that, like a good beverage, feels good ...

Black

Dierks Bentley seems intent on expanding his musical boundaries, but he may have overreached too much in eschewing where he came from. That most evident by the dominating textured beats. Producer Ross Copperman and Bentley seem hell bent on injecting odd meters and sounds, sharp detours from past efforts. Unfortunately, the atmospheric beats muddy up the vocal delivery on "Freedom," a song that stretches far too long at almost four minutes. Bentley also channels U2 with its ...

Riser

Change was in store for Dierks Bentley when it came to recording his seventh album, "Riser." On the personal front, he lost his father and added to his family, clearly affecting the subject matter of his latest. On the musical front, he traded long-time producer Brett Beavers, producer of every disc except "Up on the Ridge," for Ross Copperman, who has enjoyed more success as a writer, including several previous tracks for Bentley. Bentley embraces current trends in country ...