[CD REVIEWS]

For Rascal Flatts — the most region- and style-neutral of all mainstream country acts — specificity is a death knell. So it’s no surprise that it retreats to its comfort zone, even when tackling difficult subject matter. The album closer, Why, is per usual about someone special who left too soon. But in this case that person committed suicide, a topic other singers might whisper around, but one LeVox believes deserves his vocal pomp. Rightly, it turns out: This is the most impassioned song here. “God only knows what went wrong,” LeVox sings, “and why you would leave the stage/in the middle of a song.”

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