X (Ten)

Where many of his peers spent the first decade of the 21st century spinning country music into radio pop or beachy twang a-la Jimmy Buffett, Trace Adkins kept his new traditional tunes both rootsy and rocking. The catchy opener \"Sweet\" from his tenth album *X* pumps out hard twang, recalling ‘70s southern rock acts like .38 Special or The Marshall Tucker Band. Only the glossy production and lyrics that muse on a gal with tattoos and piercings keep the song from sounding completely retro. The uplifting \"Happy to Be Here\" is a lightly driving number that nicely contrasts Adkins\' baritone voice with floating pedal steel notes. What sounds like a lush string orchestra opens \"All I Ask For Anymore,\" the album\'s first ballad. It\'s interesting that Adkins can sing about loving his wife one moment and then suddenly switch gears on \"Marry for Money,\" a honky-tonkin\' number with lyrics fantasizing about landing an attractive rich woman. Of course it all makes sense when you consider that he landed some of Nashville\'s A-list songwriters to pen all of these songs, the most impressive being \"Til the Last Shot\'s Fired,\" a stunningly beautiful anti-war piece written from the perspective of dead soldiers\' spirits.