George Strait - "Cowboys and Dreamers"

Still going!

There are few artists who’ve had a more significant impact on their genre than George Strait has had on Country Music. Strait was one of the original artists in the Neotraditional push, which also includes artists such as Reba McIntyre, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, and Patty Loveless. This specific subgenre dominated Country music for much of the 80s and 90s.

This was the sound I grew up on. And every now and then, I need to revisit these artists. And I couldn’t pass up a Strait album.

His 31st album, actually. Strait has been producing music for over 40 years now, with his debut having released in 1981. And he hasn’t changed much in all that time. Those familiar with Strait’s sound will feel right at home on Cowboys and Dreamers.

And yes, that does mean that there are some tracks which feel a bit stale, such as the album’s third song, “To the Moon”, especially early in its playtime. But even it has its charm.

“MIA Down in MIA” is a pretty blatant play on the Kenny Chesney/Parrothead fans, riffing on Caribbean sounds and talking about a beach getaway; “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame”, featuring Chris Stapleton, is a standard honky tonk Country Rocker in line with the Bakersfield sound.

On my first listen, I was shocked at how awful the writing for “Calling From the Car” was — and I guarantee it will shock you as well. But the shock shifts as the song progresses. It’s a very cut-and-paste format from stanza-to-stanza, but that approach is used to illustrate a womanizer’s approach to communicating with women. I want to dislike it, but it’s subtly brilliant, and I appreciate that.

In sum, the album is very Strait-forward (ha) in its approach. There’s nothing here that’s world-shaking for the artist or the genre, but at the same time, it’s fairly diverse, stylistically, which helps to keep it from feeling bland and uninspired.

There is no real cohesion, though. Hell, Strait only wrote two of the songs, himself: “The Little Things” and “The Book”. But that’s pretty standard for Country; Nashville has a lot of songwriters who sell to various artists.

Still, all things considered, this was, surprisingly, not an awful disappointment.

Rating: Green