Billy Ray Cyrus
One is hard-pressed to explain the hubbub over this country-pop chartbuster, given its mediocre material and Cyrus's serviceable but hardly stellar vocals.
It could be the country-hunk factor: Cyrus was once scouted by the Dodgers, and his beefy biceps and sleek ponytail make him prime pinup fodder. Perhaps it's the anthemic quality of the songs—reminiscent of but lacking Bruce Springsteen's true grit, Neil Diamond's true schmaltz and John Mellencamp's true blue-collar.
Maybe it's the danceable but dismissable ditty, "Achy Breaky Heart," and it's palpitating video. It certainly isn't Cyrus's overwrought version of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walking." Nor is it the hackneyed title song or the draggy "Someday, Somewhere, Somehow." It might be "Could've Been Me," which at least has some spunk, or the gently honky-tonk "Wher'm I Gonna Live?" or the decent weeper "She's Not Cryin' Anymore."
Whatever it is, this Flatwoods, Ky., native who spent the '80s knocking on doors in Nashville to no avail has finally found his bucking bronco and burst out of the chute spectacularly. How long he'll be able to hold on is anyone's guess. But for now he's doing the achy breaky all the way to the banky wanky. (Mercury)
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