You've been livin' too long in broken promise land....

Ok this is the anti-Big & Rich. Lonestar has gone from soft-country superstars to the band that John Rich used to be in. They've racked up 9 #1 country hits in the span of 9 years. That's not bad for a band that originally was a semi-faceless pop-country hybrid a la band like Ricochet and Restless Heart (both in the "where are they now" column). With their sixth studio album, Coming Home, the group retreads the same path paved by earlier successes. So in place of "My Front Porch Looking In" is "You're Like Coming Home", a Hallmark-approved wuss-fest that does succeed for their musicianship (which is hard to come by in a group these days). You've got your "I'll Die Tryin'" to remind you of "Tell Her" and their other ballads, "Noise" to resemble the cute quirkiness of their "Mr. Mom" work, and "I Just Want To Love You" to simulate "Amazed". All and all not a bad album, per se, but not really a distinctive one. The generic lyrics and easygoing production doesn't really challenge you, but it doesn't leave a really bad taste in your mouth (figuratively) either. Though good in small chunks, Lonestar's wussy cheesiness does get a bit grating after a while. Which probably does explain the lackluster success of the album (it only produced one top 40 country single, the #8 title tune), while former member Rich broadened his horizons with Big & Rich to much greater success. You won't offend you parents by listening to this album, but you might get beat up by your football buddies...

Grade: C+
Best Cuts: "You're Like Coming Home", "Noise"
Weakest Links: "Wild", "Two Bottles Of Beer"

Coming Home hit #3 country albums and #26 pop albums.
"You're Like Coming Home" hit #8 country and #63 pop.
"I'll Die Trying" hit #43 country.

You can pick up Coming Home at sites like here and here.

You can listen to the track "Noise" by clicking here to download (rightclick to bring up in a new window)

And here's the video for their hit single from the album "You're Like Coming Home". Now do they staple these guys to the truckbed or what?