Melt (CD - 2002)

Rascal Flatts: Joe Don Rooney (acoustic & electric guitars); Jay Demarcus (bass); Gary Levox.

Additional personnel: Larry Beaird (acoustic guitar, banjo); Jerry McPherson, Dan Huff (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Jimmy Stewart (dobro); Jonathan Yudkin (mandolin, fiddle, violin, viola, cello); Tim Akers (accordion, keyboards); Steve Nathan (keyboards); Lonnie Wilson (drums).

Producers: Mark Bright, Marty Williams, Rascal Flatts.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

Personnel: Larry Beaird (acoustic guitar, banjo); Jerry McPherson (electric guitar, bouzouki); Joe Don Rooney, Dann Huff, J.T. Corenflos (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Jonathan Yudkin (mandolin, violin, fiddle, viola, cello); Tim Akers (accordion, keyboards); Steve Nathan (keyboards); Lonnie Wilson (drums).

Recording information: The Tracking room; The Workstation.

Photographer: David Johnson .

In the photos accompanying MELT, the members of Rascal Flatts are styled in the manner of typical grunge rockers, complete with goatees, ripped jeans, worn leather jackets, and dour grimaces. Fans need not be worried, though--the group still delivers super-shiny Nashville pop, albeit with a slightly more "adult" lyrical edge than on their self-titled debut. This time around, the songs seem custom-tailored not for teens, but for the George Bush Jr. generation--a young, sophisticated, globally aware, rural middle class more apt to be chatting on-line than downing Lone Stars in the back of a pickup.

In other words, the band makes a concerted effort to match its sublimely catchy melodies with down-to-earth tales of modern grown-up life. Though MELT's highly polished jingle-esqe production occasionally obscures the songs' emotional impact, the resulting album succeeds on it's own terms; it's as perfectly poppy and slick as the best of Britney Spears, yet significantly more substantial. minimize