CD review: George Strait

George Strait, "Twang"

(MCA Nashville)

Strait begins his new album with the title song, an up-tempo honky-tonker that finds the impeccably buttoned-down Texan as loose as ever. It's the first signal that Strait is enjoying a new burst of energy and inspiration in a three-decade career of artistic consistency and commercial clout. Another signal that Strait is engaged in his work: He has three songwriting credits -- his first since his 1981 debut. They include "Living for the Night," co-written like the others with his son, Bubba, and the kind of smooth country ballad he has long owned. It has already hit the top of the charts.

The Strait originals stack up well in a collection of exceptionally strong material, including the reflective "Where Have I Been All My Life" and the weeper "Beautiful Day for Goodbye." And, taking the lead from "Twang," Strait brings more roadhouse rambunctiousness with "Hot Grease and Zydeco" and Delbert McClinton's "Same Kind of Crazy."

NICK CRISTIANO, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER