Billy Ray Cyrus

Kentucky hunk Billy Ray Cyrus, unsanctioned by Nashville or New York, has finally made
the country single that pop audiences want to hear. And what a single it is: "Achy Breaky
Heart" matches earnest breakup anguish with loony bemusement in a C&W tradition that's
only hairs away from novelty – redeemed in this case by the song's boogie-billy
instrumentation. Some Gave All finds Cyrus at home with virtually all country idio... More >

With Cyrus oversinging like Michael Bolton at a Perot rally, this album revolted me well before I got to its climactic title cut, about how brave guys help their fellow man by killing other men, presumably not fellow and most likely gooks or something. Only it turns out Michael Bolton was on the same side as Michael Stipe, and it also turns out that Cyrus manages a nice macho self-mockery on both his hit and the likes of "Wher'm I Gonna Live?" and "I'm So Miserable." Give him a few years of ups and downs and he could be the 21st-century Waylon Jennings. Can't wait, can you? (Grade: C+)