Me and My Gang (CD - 2006)

Nashville-based country-pop superstars Rascal Flatts can seemingly do no wrong. Their first three albums sold remarkably well on the strength of the band's streamlined, commercially oriented sound and penchant for swelling, heart-tugging ballads. ME AND MY GANG, the group's fourth release, delivers more of the same, which promises to suit the band's legions of fans just fine.

The album's lead-off single, "What Hurts the Most," is a case-in-point for Rascal Flatt's winning formula: a ballad-tempo number with a lilting verse, sweetened by the group's patented harmonies, that segues into a soaring, heartrending chorus about love and loss. "Along the Broken Road," a tale of love's difficulties, strikes a similarly familiar emotional and stylistic chord. That Rascal Flatts' songs sound as comfortable on mainstream pop radio as they do on country stations is a testament to the band's crossover appeal, and ME AND MY GANG delivers on that appeal in spades. minimize