No Time To Kill (RCA) (CD - 1993)

Personnel: Clint Black (background vocals); Hayden Nicholas, Larry Byrom (acoustic guitar); Dann Huff (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (dobro); John Wittenberg, James Getzoff, Barbara Porter, Ezra Kliger, Joy Lyle, Tibor Zelig, Spiro Stamos, Bonnie Douglas, Brian Leonard, Maria Newman, Paul Shure, Berj Garabedian (violin); Rob Hajacos, Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Brian Dembow, Harry Shirinian, Raymond Tischer, Mihail Zinovyev (viola); Jan Kelley, Dennis Karmazyn, Harry Shlutz, Larry Corbett (cello); Dane Bryant, Matt Rollings (piano); Ed Greene, Eddie Bayers (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion); Kenny Loggins, Steve Real, Timothy B. Schmit, Tommy Funderburk (background vocals).

Recording information: Masterfonics, Inc, Nashville, TN; Mesa Recording, Nashville, TN; WEstlake Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

Photographers: Greg Gorman; Alberto Tolot; Firooz Zahedi.

Unknown Contributor Role: Ron Keith.

Arranger: Steve Dorff.

Love is an often-used theme of NO TIME TO KILL, Clint Black's fourth album. "Thinkin' Again" runs on the premise of "overthinking" love; "A Good Run Of Bad Luck" deals with love and obsession; "Half The Man" and "Back To Back" elaborate on love's ability to create one soul out of two.

The power of music is the dominant focus of "State Of Mind," a track praising that place where music reigns supreme. In "Happiness Alone," which Black co-wrote with party-boy Jimmy Buffet, the song is tempered by the sentiment that there's more to life than a good time. It's also a theme of "No Time To Kill," the seasoned response to his prior hit "Killin' Time." On the fiddle-driven "I'll Take Texas," he extols the virtues of his home state. The fun song of the album is "Tuckered Out" in which, over a frenetic instrumental track, he utilizes the names of several dozen country stars in a pun-filled tribute to country music ("I'm Haggard worn and Waylon from the bottom of my Restless Heart...").

NO TIME TO KILL is a country album of substance, ranging from driving rockers to sensitive ballads, all complemented by the intense vocals of one of country music's most talented stars. minimize