Loving Every Minute (CD - 2001)

Personnel: Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Aubrey Haynie (mandolin, fiddle); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Gary Prim (piano, keyboards); Keith Stegall, Gordon Mote, Brady Barnett (keyboards); Eddie Bayers (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); John Kelton, Scott Williamson (drum programming); John Wesley Ryles (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: John Kelton.

Recording information: Sound Emporium, Nashville, TN; The Sound Train Station, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Robert Ascroft.

Sticking with a style that is knee-deep in ballads, Mark Wills continues applying his warm tenor to the kind of material that blurs the lines between pop and country. Once again produced by Keith Stegall and Carson Chamberlin, (the team who discovered and signed the handsome Georgia native), Wills ups the tempo a bit more than on prior outings. He gently tears into material like the mid-tempo rollick of "One Of These Days," good-humored disdain of "I Hate Chicago," and the hook-filled "Lost In A Kiss" (featuring Ottmar Liebert-flavored acoustic guitar).

Of course with slower numbers buttering Wills's bread, there are plenty of romantic odes sure to satisfy fans. Among the best are a harmony-charged Jamie O'Neal duet ("I'm Not Gonna Do Anything Without You"), an observational country-star-as-astronaut allegory ("Back On Earth"), and a heartbreaking lament about a child missing his deceased mama ("The Balloon Song"). Mark Wills once again strikes gold for pop-country fans everywhere. minimize