Rebecca Lynn Howard's impressive debut positioned the Eastern Kentucky native as both a Patty Loveless acolyte and a formidable songwriter, contributing "I Don't Paint Myself into Corners" to the Trisha Yearwood songbook. Now comes her follow-up, which makes concessions to country's increasing inclination toward pure pop, even as it also includes some of the staunchest hillbilly music to come out of Nashville in years. "Jesus and Bartenders," Larry Cordle and Leslie Satcher's exquisite honky-tonk paean to both, weighs in as the album's biggest throwback to True Country, while Howard's own "It Didn't Look Like Alcohol," a poignant song of a man's struggle with unseen demons, comes in a close second. These exceptionally well crafted tunes seem even more extraordinary when bumped up against such forgettable pop as "Life Had Other Plans" and "Memorized." But the big-voiced Howard builds a bridge between the two styles on the title song, in which a wife reels from her husband's confession of infidelity. More than any other recent album, Forgive epitomizes country's current schizophrenia. There's no question which format will burn in your memory, even if it's the other that will likely make Rebecca Lynn Howard a star.
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