Garth Brooks lets his roots — and more — show on new box set
beloved ballads “Unanswered Prayers,” “The Dance” and “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” but the romantic portion of the show reaches its peak when Brooks’ wife and fellow country superstar Trisha Yearwood joins him for their duet, “In Another’s Eyes.” Their beautiful harmonizing on a long-awaited new song, “The Call,” is the highlight of the show.
Classics from four genres
The rest of the box set also mixes Brooks’ signature smashes with affectionate versions of his favorite songs by other artists. Each of the four new covers albums delves into a different genre and includes 11 tracks, many featured in his intimate Vegas shows, and his publicist provided The Oklahoman with a sampling of two cuts from each cover CD.
On the “Country Classics” album, Brooks and Yearwood make beautiful music together on the Conway TwittyLoretta Lynn ballad “After the Fire Is Gone,” and the Oklahoma native brings the necessary attitude, if not the grit, to Jerry Reed’s story-song “Amos Moses.” Brooks’ supple voice is as well-suited for his takes on Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” and Taylor’s “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,” from “The Melting Pot” CD, as it is for his covers of Free’s “All Right Now” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” from the set’s “Classic Rock” selection. All those hours listening to his mama’s 45’s as a child pay off on his covers of Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia” and Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” from the “Blue-Eyed Soul” CD.
The box set also folds in his 2007 “The Ultimate Hits” release, which includes two CDs and one DVD showcasing 33 of the superstar’s classic smashes and 33 of his memorable music videos.
Fans who venture out to snap up “Blame It All on My Roots” on Black Friday should make sure they’re home by 8 p.m., when the TV special “Garth Brooks, Live From Las Vegas” — his last concert at the Encore Theater at the Wynn Las Vegas — is scheduled to air on CBS.
The Flaming Lips “Peace Sword” (Warner Bros.)
“Peace Sword” is The Flaming Lips’ re-entry into their more familiar galactic territory, where space-dreamy melodies, great, glistening streams of keyboard color and Wayne Coyne’s multitracked vocal yearnings fill the glitter-spangled outer limits of your heart and mind with heartbreaking warmth, sadness, apprehension, anticipation and epic psych-pop bliss.
Coyne, multi-instru-