Daily Staff Writer

“You and You Alone”

Randy Travis

Country music had a revolution, a revitalization in the middle of the 1980s.

Though names like Garth Brooks and Brooks & Dunn slip easily off the tongues of newcomers to country music, these superstars came after a single country artist made country music cool again.

That country artist is Randy Travis.

Travis is pure country and brought its music back to life with such a bang that it is still coasting from it today.

Recently, he has broadened his horizons into television with guest appearances on the popular show “Touched By an Angel,” and in the movies “Fire Down Below” and Patrick Swayze’s “Black Dog.”

With all of this new stuff, fans may wonder if Travis is still committed to his music. His answer is his 13th CD, the newly released “You and You Alone.”

While the debut single “Out of My Bones” is already on its way up the charts, it won’t be the only hit from this CD. Fans will clamor the radio stations to play anything new from him. The CD has 12 songs and is only about 42 minutes long.

Travis is only country, he doesn’t do rock ‘n’ roll or pop. His music is for the truest country fan. And it is as good as ever.

Some of the best songs on the album are “Out of My Bones,” “The Hole,” “Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man,” “Easy to Love You” and “You and You Alone.”

The entire CD is smooth, and it flows well from one song to the next.

His mellow voice carries through the music without much change and you never have to worry about missing a word when listening to his songs.

The fans of Travis will love this CD and those who could take or leave him, will do so. It is good, but not his best.

3 1/2 stars out of five

— Amanda Knief

“Virgin Stripes”

Slowpoke

What began as a film soundtrack ended up turning the members of Slowpoke in a different direction. “Virgin Stripes” was originally a soundtrack for a movie by the four college students from Dallas.

Instead, it gained them the kind of hype that turned them into a band.

The album opener “Railroad” is a strange song with a vibrating melody that is very invigorating. It’s about paranoid youth facing many pressures, and the musical effects tell the story very well.

Following that is the very pop-heavy “Lorraine” and the happy song “Hey! Alma Mater.” The latter flows well but then lets loose all of a sudden and helps the guys of Slowpoke release their inner musical power. It’s a very nostalgic piece inspired by high school pep rallies.

These are unfortunately followed by the boring ballad “Valentine” and “Broadcaster,” a very punk-like three-chord song. It’s not too noticeable that it is a complete attempt at copying Green Day’s style.

“Tonka” is a very captivating work despite being only one minute long. It has a western sound to it with some horse hooves clop-clopping along in the background keeping the beat.

“Belladonna,” pronounced “crappysonga,” has worse than average music and even more worse singing. Lead singer Dave Gibson redeems himself, though, with “Dirty Hands.”

The song’s attractive riffs and the whispery vocals of Gibson regain what Slowpoke was beginning to lose. It portrays a great representation of nervous young love and sounds very much like Tears For Fears.

“Before the Fight” also finds its way into catchiness with strong guitars that drive down a road paved with solid drumming.

Despite being filled with some very radio-friendly hooks, “Virgin Stripes” is a little weak. The songs all start out strong, but they have nothing to pull you in and keep you listening.

2 1/2 stars out of five

— Kevin Hosbond