Ropin the Wind

1. Against The Grain 2. Rodeo 3. What She's Doing Now 4. Burning Bridges 5. Papa Loved Mama 6. Shameless 7. Cold Shoulder 8. We Bury The Hatchet 9. In Lonesome Dove 10. The River

Brooks's third album, 1991's Ropin' the Wind, found him distancing himself further from the new-traditionalist hat-pack. The album's centerpiece was an all-stops-out Southern-rock cover of Billy Joel's "Shameless." Another hit single, "Rodeo," boasted a slinky Creedence-style groove. Brooks's propensity for sentimental folk-pop clichés surfaced on the ballads "What She's Doing Now" and "The River." But "We Bury the Hatchet" and "Papa Loved Mama" were tongue-in-cheek attempts at honky-tonk and truck-drivin' boogie. While Brooks subsequently has been criticized for putting a cowboy hat atop rock & roll and calling it country, these tracks sound more like vintage Ernest Tubb next to some of today's Nashville Pop-tarts. --Rick Mitchell