With utter assurance and several shots of sly humor, Dwight Yoakam moved into his second decade of recording with Gone, his most daring album to date. Displaying a full command of styles as far afield as Al Green-style soul ("Nothing"), straight-up honky-tonk ("Don't Be Sad"), Tex-Mex polka ("Sorry You Asked?"), and classic Nashville Sound balladry ("Heart of Stone"), Yoakam also reaches the heart of his songs: this isn't a showoff genre-hopping move. It's more like the peak point of his catalog. --Rickey Wright