Coda.fm

X (TEN)

by Trace Adkins

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Trace Adkins "X" (TEN) will give fans anything and everything they have always loved about his music over the past 12 years, including the gospel-and bluegrass-sired song and his current hit single "Muddy Water." In addition, there are songs like "Sweet," which turns a common national expression into a tight and particularized country tune, and "I Can't Out Run You," a vocal tour de force about the weight of romantic obsession in which Adkins records a haunting country soul song, in 2008, Sinatra-style. These songs show how both sides of Adkins' music work with a great stylistic co-cooperation: "Hillbilly Rich" wouldn't be nearly as good without the rooted center of Adkins' steady, nuanced baritone, and "Sometimes a Man Takes a Drink" could be tradition merely without his ability to infuse heritage styles with modern tensions and vibes. And the album features as well a song like "Till The Last Shot's Fired," which looks at military history and personal sacrifice, and in which Adkins' vocal is augmented by the rare presence of the West Point Cadet Choir." An energetic tune built around a heavy guitar lick -- Adkins introduces the song as "a little funkabilly" -- called "Better Than I Thought It'd Be" and a thoughtful orchestrated ballad, "All I Ask For Anymore," round out the album.