Consumer Guide Album

Garth Brooks: The Chase [Capitol, 1992]
Burdened by the responsibilities he believes come with success, Brooks leads with the first song in Nashville history to inveigh, however discreetly, against not just racism but homophobia. There's nothing as wicked as "Papa Loved Mama," which didn't bat an eye when mama fucked around or papa ran her over with his truck. But "Somewhere Other Than the Night," about sex on the farm, and "Learning to Live Again," about a divorcé's blind date, typify the smarts of a guy who knows not all suburbanites are as stupid as Michael Bolton believes. Having mastered the kind of nice-guy aura that has escaped pop superstars since the days of Como and Cole, Brooks could yet get away with being a liberal. B+