of July" sounds pretty awful considering the recent U.S. bombing of an Afghan wedding party.
Keith continues to be a likable right-winger throughout the album: The cool and cocky strut of "Who's Your Daddy" comes with a wink of humility, and "Beer for My Horses" (a duet with Willie Nelson) plays to everybody's vigilante fantasies. The album loses momentum when the outspoken singer unleashes obligatory Nashville schmaltz like "Rock You Baby" and the cutesy "Huckleberry." For the most part, though,
Unleashed puts the grits and gravy back into mainstream country.
MARK KEMP
(RS 903 - August 22, 2002)
After Alan Jackson released the sensitive post 9/11 hit "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning," Toby Keith retorted with the punchy "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)." This song (and album) appealed to many angry Americans and put Keith on the map.
