Doug Stone - Make up in Love

Somewhere along the way, Doug Stone traded relatively straightforward honky tonk balladeering for mainstream country balladeering that leaned heavily toward country-pop. Since his voice has always been rich and sweet, not heavily country, the transition makes sense, but it's still sort of surprising how slick and radio-ready his sixth album, Make Up In Love, is. It's country in name only, simply because it has prominent acoustic guitars, steel guitars, and a bit of a twang, but the songs and performances are all adult contemporary pop -- it's quite remarkable that a cover of RB Greave's kitschy pop-soul classic "Take a Letter, Maria" is the closest this comes to hardcore country. Read More