Trace Adkins

Trace Adkins' 10th album is a class act: the poignant songs ("Happy to Be Here," "All I Ask for Anymore," "Sometimes a Man") are rich with melancholy and the sassy songs ("Sweet," "Marry for Money," "Hillbilly Rich") are saucier than ever. "Til the Last Shot" is the heart-wrenching highlight, though. An epic tale of war, loss and respect for those on the front lines, the choir-lined beauty is neither pro war nor against it; rather, it centers on the inevitability of death, no matter the cause.

Trace Adkins has built a built a rep praising booty (see 2005's "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"),
and his latest opens with "Sweet," which compares a hot gal to "diamond bling." (What, no
Lil Wayne remix?) But he's still a country traditionalist, and his 10th set also finds him
praising baptism ("Muddy Water") and his family ("All I Ask for Anymore"). His serious side is
more compelling: Check his resonant baritone on the soldier's lament "Till the La... More >