EMOL's Country Music Site
CD REVIEW OF
GARTH BROOKS' FRESH HORSES
(Capital Records, 1995)
By Sandra L. Toney
Fresh Horses. That is what country superstar Garth Brooks titled his latest release. Although the name makes you wonder what hidden meaning Brooks is trying to convey, the "fresh" part isn't necessarily proven.
With ten brand new singles, Garth didn't go out on a limb too far; most of these songs have that familiar Garth Brooks sound to them. Of course, that isn't a bad thing either. Why mess with something that works? And, Garth Brooks' unique sound has definitely worked over the years.
This album has already produced three hits off of it and will no doubt produce many more. His single, "The Fever," is probably the most UN-Garth tune on Fresh Horses. In fact, the first time I heard it on the radio, I thought the station had been accidentally switched to a hard rock station. But, it was only Garth, who can rock with the best of them, strutting his stuff over the airwaves.
Another successful single off the album, "She's Every Woman" (co-written by Brooks and Victoria Shaw), is a touching tribute to women everywhere as Brooks belts out, "She's as real as real can be/And she's every fantasy/Lord she's every lover that I've ever had/And she's every lover that I've never had." We can all only hope that the man in our lives feels this way about us . . .
Overall, the album is a good one if you are a true blue Garth fan. The feel and sound of the album is so familiar and, listening to it for the first time, it seems you've heard it a hundred times before. That in itself is a little disappointing but, at the same time, comforting as well.
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