Every music genre has innovators and traditionalists, including the country & western. George Strait has long been known as a purist, making country music as it has done for many years. With this approach, he, along with Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw, became one of America's best known and most loved artists. On The Road Less Traveled, Strait once again plays a familiar country sound,
… although he once again lets himself be tempted by a studio trick from pop music, when he sings in the song Stars On The Water with the so-called Cher effect on his voice. Fortunately, it is an exception. On the rest of the record, Strait sounds like his impeccable self everywhere, which is a great achievement considering he didn't write any of the songs himself. Noteworthy is also Randy Scruggs' virtuoso guitar playing. (MS)more