Place in the Sun (CD - 1999)

Personnel: Tim McGraw (vocals); Larry Byrom, Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason, Michael Landau, B. James Lowry, John D. Willis, Mike Durham (electric guitar); Paul Franklin, Dan Dugmore (steel guitar); Aubrey Haynie, Glen Duncan (fiddle); Steve Nathan (keyboards); Glenn Worf, Mike Brignardello (bass); Lonnie Wilson (drums); Curtis Wright, Curtis Young, Chris Rodriguez, Kim Carnes, Greg Barnhill, Patty Loveless, Kim Parent (background vocals); The Nashville String Machine.

Producers: Byron Gallimore, James Stroud, Tim McGraw.

Engineers include: Julian King, Dennis Davis, Erik Lutkins.

Principally recorded at Ocean Way, Nashville, Tennessee.

"Please Remember Me" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

Tim McCraw won the 2000 CMA Award for Male Vocalist Of The Year.

"My Best Friend" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

Everywhere may have continued Tim McGraw's streak of hit albums, but it also suggested that he was falling into a bit of a rut. That doesn't seem to have bothered McGraw, since Everywhere's sequel, A Place in the Sun, is much like its predecessor in its balance of polished ballads, country-pop and uptempo ravers, which are supposed to sound like honky-tonk but are closer to country-rock. Since he's a professional and works with professionals, A Place in the Sun sounds good and has a number of highlights, from ballads like "My Best Friend" and the Patty Loveless duet "Please Remember Me" to harder numbers like "Something Like That," "My Next Thirty Years" and "She'll Have You Back." The problem is, there's nothing new here -- not only is the music in the same vein as his previous efforts, it has nearly the same ratio of hits to misses. Since the moments that do work are very good, and since it is a stronger overall record than its predecessor, it will be worthwhile for fans, but it doesn't help erase the impression that McGraw won't deliver a truly satisfying album until a greatest-hits compilation comes along. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

With A PLACE IN THE SUN, Tim McGraw, the son of legendary baseball player Tug McGraw, has hit a musical home run. The follow-up to his insanely successful EVERYWHERE, A PLACE IN THE SUN contains McGraw's signature mix of traditional country, humor, romance and rowdiness. McGraw has a real talent for choosing well-crafted, slightly off-kilter songs (from top Nashville talents like Walt Alridge, Phil Vassar, Hillary Kanter and Mark Nesler), and delivering them so convincingly that you can almost believe he's the one who wrote them.

The 15 tracks range from the hard country of "She'll Have You Back" (the punch line is "...back to drinking in no time") to the heartfelt romance of "My Best Friend" to the sweeping grandeur of "Please Remember Me" (featuring harmonies by Patty Loveless). Highlights include "The Trouble With Never," the boisterous "Something Like That" and "My Next Thirty Years," a fantastic song about a man saying good-bye to his youth while he prepares, with some trepidation, to face the second half of his life. Fans may be disappointed to find there's no duet with McGraw's wife, Faith Hill. However, even with the lack of that crowd-pleasing element, A PLACE IN THE SUN truly shines. minimize