After releasing a long series of cookie-cutter Nash-Vegas albums through most of the '90s,
Mark Chesnutt
took a welcome step back to his
honky tonk
roots on his fine 2004 album
Savin' the Honky Tonk
, and while
Heard It in a Love Song
lacks the hard
country
feel of that disc, it's a solid set that confirms the man's musical instincts are back on track.
is primarily devoted to covers of tunes associated with the likes of
Merle Haggard
,
Hank Williams
Johnny Paycheck
and
Waylon Jennings
, with
Chesnutt
focusing on love (both good and bad) most of the time.
's sure got a way with a weeper --
"A Day in the Life of a Fool"
"Apartment #9"
practically demand a beer to cry in -- and he brings a warmth and weathered sentimentality to
"Dreaming My Dreams with You"
"Goodbye Comes Hard for Me"
that's touching without getting saccharine. While the cover of
the Marshall Tucker Band
's
"Heard it in a Love Song"
is the slickest thing here, it still gives off an honest barroom ambience, and the rest of this album compares favorably to
's great early work. At less than 31 minutes,
's only flaw is its length -- with
sounding this good, most fans will wish there were another few songs on this set, but what's here is modern-day
served strong and straight and sounding mighty fine. ~ Mark Deming