Craig Morgan, “Tough” This is one of the most beautiful tributes to a wife and mother that I have ever heard. Every line sounds like real life. There are no forced story lines here, no

Bon Jovi, “(You Want To) Make a Memory” Listening to Bon Jovi’s first official attempt at country music, it’s hard not to be struck by how similar the vocal and general groove is to a

Alabama, “The Star-Spangled Banner” I think renditions of the national anthem are sort of like Christmas albums. They’re hard to review on the merits. Generally, I tend to like Christmas albums by the same people

Halfway to Hazard, “Daisy” I blame CMT for making me think this must have something to do with Dukes of Hazzard. Anyway, the girl “loved the hell out of him.” Guess how? Took him to

John Mellencamp, “The Americans” Proof positive that songs with meaningless liberal platitudes are just as boring and uninspiring as songs with conservative ones. This stinks. Grade: C- Listen: The Americans Buy: The Americans

Miranda Lambert, “Famous in a Small Town” This is interesting. Lambert has crafted a song around how life in a small-town basically results in everybody being famous, since everyone knows what everyone else is doing.

Pam Tillis, “Band In The Window” There are a lot of songs about Nashville, but they always seem to focus on the music industry, whether celebrating it (“16th Avenue”) or demonizing it (“Murder On Music