As my reviews of his albums are an on-going look back from his first album to his most recent, I must begin by saying that, at least for me, "The Chase" was the album where Garth first began to show that his commercial marketing and familiar styling were replacing his genuineness.

By the time "The Chase" was released, Garth was firmly established as an artist. There was to be no question of his greatness, and certainly, no doubt of the success of this album. Perhaps in a need to maintain his momentum and his growth, or perhaps simply to continue to appeal to his massive and ever-growing audience, Garth released an album that seemed very calculated and, stylistically predictable.

"The Chase" is not a bad album at all...far from it, and by the standards of albums in release today, it is a great album. It contains all the elements of a marketable record and features some really great material. The problem is, Garth's early material was so strong, this album had impossibly large shoes to fill and, as a result, maybe fell a little short of the expectations of the audience it intended to reach.

"We Shall Be Free", the first track on the album, an edgy, powerful gospel-rock-ballad, is very well conceived, though it never received the attention it deserved. The song, which states that "we shall be free" when we dismiss prejudice and discrimination, is genuinely powerful, but it was also a little preachy, possibly turning off listeners whos opinions didn't match Garth's.

This album, like others also introduced us to a remake of several classic songs. "Dixie Chicken" was given a refreshing update, again blending the stylings of country with a blend of blues/gospel sound that make it poignant and enjoyable. Garth's reworking of "Walking After Midnight" however leaves something to be desired. It is good, but Patsy Cline gave the song such an absolute sound that this arrangement seems to fall a little short of the mark.

Unlike its predecessors, this album runs a little short on solid singles. The likable "That Summer" is a solid song, but uses the stylings for which Garth was becoming increasingly more recognized by, and results in sounding like a clone of some of his earlier work, instead of simply standing on its own.

The pieces that work best on this album are the ones that went unrecognized by country radio. "Somewhere Other Than the Night" is beautiful, and like much of Garth's material, is not a traditional love song, but instead a reflection on the need for love to extend beyond the physical, and really impact each of us moment by moment.

Perhaps the strongest piece on the album is "Night Rider's Lament", a delightful song about a man's quest to live out his life as a cowboy in the west after giving up the comforts of his life back in the city. The song is bold, and Garth takes a risk with it by yodelling the final portion of the song in the stylings of the old country-western singers. The result is delightful, and a nod-of-the-hat to country music fans of yesteryear.

Although this album does not, in my opinion, equal the strengths of his earlier efforts, it is a great album, full of some really great musical moments. It is well worth the time and the price of the CD, despite being a slightly weaker album than "Ropin the Wind", "No Fences" and his debut album, "Garth Brooks". It is still classic Garth-and so you can't go wrong here.

I think I first heard Garth Brooks perform "Learnin' to Live Again" on Letterman. Bought the CD just on that one track-- it was a strong song that stuck with me. It's the only country album I own (if you don't count "country-lite" folks like Bonnie Raitt), and I'm a big fan. Buy it simply to expand your horizons just a bit.

As a fan of country music that is "accessible" to non-countrified ears, I feel this is Garth Brooks' strongest album. Less twangy than the still-glorious "No Fences" and less synthesized than his later discs, the album offers a mix of ballads, barnstormers and storytelling that encapsulate myriad human qualities, experiences and feelings. "That Summer" is every adolescent boy's paean to older women, and "We Shall Be Free" delivers a hopeful message against hate, violence, homophobia and hunger. Throughout, Brooks testifies to his own personal growth ("Every Now and Then") as well as his sense of humor ("Dixie Chicken.") Perhaps no track captures the essence of Brooks' strengths as a dramatic interpreter of country music than the song "Somewhere Other Than The Night." In it, he tells a haunting tale of lost romance, risk-taking, and pure unadulterated passion between a couple who'd forgotten how to love. He delivers the track with a mix of anger and gentleness that adds to its drama, and makes it one of Garth's crowning single achievments, up there with "Friends In Low Places" and "The Change."

"Face to Face" and "Nightrider's Lament" like the other tracks here show why Garth retained his loyal fans with "Chase." That said, it's true strength lies in potentially reaching beyond the pure-country enthusiasts and onto the CD Players of devoted pop lovers. As a stylist, this is Brooks' finest moment on disc, in that he bridges the very gap country music has been hoping to cross for a long time. As a songwriter, he shows depth and wisdom, and as the world's ambassador to country music, he reaches new heights. A definitive album, and a MUST HAVE for all serious lovers of pure pop.

Garth Brooks has another solid album here. However, I think he took a slight step back from his earlier records on The Chase. He started venturing more in the pop direction on some of his songs, though the songs themselves are well-done. Garth's hit "We Shall Be Free", with its funky, gospel-tinged arrangement, created controversy with its anti-homophobic stance, but I don't think it should have. The message is actually very simple; it's about brotherhood and living in harmony. "Face To Face", like "The Dance" a song by Garth's buddy Tony Arata, is another controversial song. One of the verses on "Face To Face" deals with acquaintance rape. "Dixie Chicken", an old Little Feat song, is a bluesy romp. These songs are heavily pop-oriented--Garth, after all, counts the rock icons Journey, Billy Joel, Queen, and Kiss among his musical influences in addition to his country heroes, George Jones and George Strait. The songs on the record are well-done, though, and Garth included enough ballads and "straight" country tunes on The Chase to make it a high-quality album. The ballads "Somewhere Other Than The Night", "Learning To Live Again", and "That Summer" are all well-written, well-performed songs and were big hits for Garth as well. The traditional-sounding "Night Rider's Lament", the country swing song "Mr. Right", the reflective song "Every Now And Then", and Garth's version of the classic Patsy Cline song "Walkin' After Midnight" round out the record(of which I have the cassette version). Garth's commercial success started getting the better of him on The Chase because he retreated a bit from the "straight" country he started out singing. However, The Chase is still a very good effort. It gets a four-star rating from me.

If The Dance, The River and other songs weren't enough to prove Garth's amazing range to you, he adds to it with "We Shall Be Free". Of course it created "controversy" among the no-nothings that want Garth to be some kind of George Jones clone. Yo, people, like all things, country music will grow and change. Embrace it, because it is wonderful in this case. It's interesting that all people can say about "We Shall Be Free" is that it's anti-homophobic. Why, yes, it is. It is also anti-racist, pro-freedom of religion, pro-environment, pro-free speech, anti-poverty and all Garth. I'm proud to have country music begin to reflect all that is best about America and her people. It's time the hateful few stopped being able to control the flow of such a powerful American tradition as country music. We shall be free!