There's Garth, and There's Garbage

As you can tell from my vast selection of Kiss reviews :) I am not very fond of country music. Too much of it sounds the same, with the standard "cheatin', stealin', drankin'" motif. Any genre of music that includes such "hits" as "She's the Queen of My Double-Wide Trailer" should be immediately suspect.

Garth Brooks is a breath of fresh, uncowpaddy-smelling, air. In his music he doesn't dwell on how his daddy died, or how he's trying to stick it to the man, or how he likes to routinely get drunk and wreck his girlfriend's car which really belongs to her ex.

In his "No Fences" there is a tune about cheating, "The Thunder Rolls", but the feeling resulting from it's emotional consequences is so much more intelligently portrayed than your standard hillbilly fare. "Unanswered Prayers" is a tune about how lust for something in your past (in this case, an old girlfriend) can catch up with you, and make you realize that what you have now (in this case, a loyal, loving wife) is far better. My favorite track is "Wolves", a metaphor for how society can stalk and devour those less fortunate.

In general, I find the music on "No Fences" (excluding the "Friend's in Low Places" yee-haw fest) to be an intelligent effort; Along with his other cd's, I find it's the only country music I can enjoy. The music doesn't contain too much of the annoying steel guitar, and it's actually unique.