The one Nashville sub-genre tthat never gets the respect it deserves is the comic-novelty song. From Jimmie Rodgers' "In the Jailhouse Now" to Tracy Lawrence's "It Only Takes One Bar (To Make a Prison)," exaggerated shaggy-dog stories and awful puns have provided country music with some of its finest moments. Joe Diffie, once marketed as a neo-traditionalist heartthrob, has found a new niche as a comic singer on Third Rock from the Sun, and his light, giddy touch with this material proves infectious. The album includes several run-of-the-mill romantic ballads, but it's the funny stuff that makes this recording special. --Geoffrey Himes