JACKSON, ALAN

The obvious talking point on Alan Jackson's hugely successful DRIVE is "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," a song written in response to the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Its refreshing lack of gung-ho patriotism and focus on small details ("Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'/And turn on I Love Lucy reruns") is a hallmark of Jackson's songwriting, which is adept at finding a telling detail to highlight a bigger truth.

Elsewhere, in the best country tradition, "The Sounds" is a familiar tale of heartbreak freshly told, while "Work in Progress" is a catalog of a redneck doofus's unwitting transgressions that'll find an echo in many male listeners. "Designated Drinker," a duet with George Strait, is another in a seemingly inexhaustible line of country drinking songs. Appropriately for an album named DRIVE, two automobile-related songs bookend the set. The title track is about Jackson's first boat and car, while "First Love," in the tradition of NRBQ's "Little Floater" and Neil Young's "Long May You Run," is also about a much-loved vehicle that should be food for thought for women everywhere.

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