Clint Black
Nothin’ But the Taillights (RCA) (star) (star) (star)
Martina McBride
Evolution (RCA) (star) (star) (star)
On “Still Holdin’ On,” a ballad that appears on both of these albums, Black and McBride join their distinctive voices for the first time. The soaring duet finds both artists in top form, and, like all of the songs on “Nothin’ But the Taillights,” demonstrates Black’s collaborative skills as a writer — in this case, with Matraca Berg and Marty Stuart. But the album’s high point is “Our Kind of Love,” a lovely ballad that benefits from the presence of Alison Krauss and Union Station. McBride enjoys another self-assured outing in “Evolution,” which gets an early boost from “Happy Girl” and finds its emotional peak in “A Broken Wing,” a highly charged look at family distress that should have the same impact as her “Independence Day.”
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