hey tell me that there's more to life than just what I can see...

Well, at least one of these guys didn't shoot a captive bear. Brooks & Dunn are the quintessential country duo churning out nine hit studio albums since 1991 by combining honky tonk coolness like in "Hard Workin' Man" and epic ballads like "The Long Goodbye". With Hillbilly Deluxe, the pair continued the success rekindled with the Red Dirt Road album. For rabid fans of their music, it'll be a big success. For everyone else, it's touch and go.

Hillbilly Deluxe starts off innocuously with the lead single "Play Something Country", a corny white bread-neck slogan song that only is listenable because B&D sell it well enough. It's the usual name-dropping urban-bashing swill that would've been lost save for the infectious beat and Ronnie Dunn's voice. This and the next bunch of tunes retread a lot of material already gone over and over on previous albums, and for once sounds it. Well done, but nothing new. At least until the solemn dirge "Believe", which is a great inspiring song about death and peoples' faith. Following that is the good remake of Nicolette Larson's "Building Bridges" with Sheryl Crow and Vince Gill singing backup. The remainder of the album is as passable as the first, though it contain the two best nuggets from the album, the heartbreak ballad "I May Never Get Over You" and the male-diva powerhouse "Again". One sad note is how little Kix Brooks is represented on this album, with Dunn's songs dominating the album. Otherwise, an ok, if not notable, addition to their catalog.

Grade: C+
Best Cuts: "Again", "I May Never Get Over You"
Weakest Links: "One More Roll Of The Dice", "It Ain't Me If It Ain't You"

Hillbilly Deluxe hit #3 pop albums and #1 on the country albums chart.
"Play Something Country" hit #1 country and #37 pop.
"Believe" made #8 country and #60 pop.
"Building Bridges" made #4 country and #66 pop.

You can pick up Hillbilly Deluxe at sites like here and here.

You can listen to the song "Again" by clicking here to download (rightclick to bring up in another window).

And here's the video for their single "Believe"...