Waitin' On Sundown

While it’s a little top heavy — with most of its best songs arriving before the halfway mark —Waitin’ On Sundown still stands as the peak of Brooks and Dunn’s early career. “Little Miss Honky Tonk” epitomizes the duo’s patented blend of rock boogie and country twang, a recipe they quickly mastered. But “Silver and Gold” shows another side of the duo. Heartfelt, catchy, but entirely unhurried, the song has more in common with the working class songcraft of Bruce Springsteen and John Mellancamp than it does the slick sounds of Nashville. The second half of the album is packed with the kind of no-nonsense honky-tonk music that keeps the duo credible, but it's the album’s two big hits that show just how great Brooks and Dunn can be. Dunn’s gritty “She’s Not the Cheatin’ Kind” and Brooks’ windswept “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” are rock-solid, sincere, and tastefully executed: everything good country music should be.