Steve Wariner - Burnin The Roadhouse Down (1998)

Burnin' the Roadhouse Down finds Steve Wariner in typically fine form. It may have been five years since his last vocal album, Drive (there was an instrumental album, No More Mr. Nice Guy, in the meantime), but all that time off has revived Wariner, resulting in an album that's the equal of his 1991 high-water mark, I Am Ready. His music may not be as fresh as it was in the early '80s, when he was at the beginning of his career, but he's become a masterful craftsman, and that's why the album shines. From the affecting ballad "Holes in the Floor of Heaven" to the Garth Brooks duet on the title track, Burnin' the Roadhouse Down is a terrific contemporary country record that finds a journeyman at the top of his form.~Burnin' the Roadhouse Down Review by Thom Owens