Tracy Lawrence emerged in the '90s with a slew of Top 10 and No. 1 singles that too often submerged his drawling twang in the arena-rock bombast Nashville favored. This time he succeeds--to a point--in downshifting to something more basic. One can't argue with the integrity of the rebound ballad "Getting Back Up" or the sweetly romantic "Meant to Be." The small-town-Samaritan tale "That Was Us," "She Loved the Devil Out of Me," and the beguiling, relaxed swing of "It's Got You All Over It" are all impressive. Earthier production, however, can't ameliorate the slick banality of "Life Don't Have to Be So Hard," a litany of clichéd down-home imagery, or the cut-and-dried qualities that plague several other tracks. "What a Memory," seemingly conceived as raw, George Jones-styled pathos, reeks of calculation. The intentions here were honorable--if only more of the material measured up. --Rich Kienzle