Chrome

1	Chrome 3:22
2	Help Me Understand 3:51
3	Once Upon a Fool Ago 4:28
4	I'm Tryin' 4:44
5	Thankful Man 3:28
6	I'm Payin' for It Now 3:52
7	And There Was You 3:38
8	Come Home 3:31
9	Scream 4:04
10	I'm Goin' Back 4:07
11	Give Me You 3:24
12	Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow 3:47

Barnes & Noble

On the boisterous Chrome, Trace Adkins not only shows off masterful vocal chops; he also stands foursquare with those folks whose collars are a deep shade of blue and whose hearts are earnest, if sometimes misled. This mind-set comes naturally to Adkins, a burly former oilfield roughneck, but you don't need to know his biography to appreciate the credibility he brings to his performances here. The surging "I'm Tryin' " finds a weary Adkins describing a litany of soul-draining events -- from working double shifts to dealing with a money-grubbing ex-wife -- but vowing to keep on believing in a better day. A family values anthem, "Thankful Man" uses a propulsive beat and a forceful vocal to honor the enduring gifts given by his parents -- work ethic, values, and love -- which add up to "a real good life." It figures that a fellow so steeped in the traditional would be a fish out of water in decadent L.A. In the half-spoken, half-sung "I'm Goin' Back," Adkins describes enervating encounters with bad air, chaotic freeways, and cross-dressing males, for starters, and vows -- to the strains of a roiling hard-country soundscape full of pounding drums, protesting guitars, wailing pedal steel lines, and a backwoodsy Jew's harp -- to return to the America he recognizes. But before he doth protest too much, Adkins turns tender, on a heartfelt "Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow," which finds him crooning seductively on measured versers and giving the chorus the full, open-hearted gusto it begs for. Chrome has that distinctive shine about it all through its dozen tracks. David McGee

All Music Guide

It's not uncommon for the tell-it-like-it-is, six-and-a-half-foot Adkins to say things like the following: "I'm first and foremost interested in the lyrics on anything I record. It sounds like it sounds, but the most important thing is the words." Perhaps that's why he elected to choose Nashville's "pop" producer Dann Huff, who lends himself to commercial country songs that get lots of radio airtime. That's not to say Adkins has abandoned his progressive old-time country roots. Album number four is just a little bit more of a discriminatory mix of traditional classics and up-tempo contemporaries that listeners are not used to hearing from him. But the 12-track collection certainly works at that, all the while staying true to what he's known for. You've got to love the way this guy sings bass. Praiseworthy tunes include the nebulous "Chrome," the overly prideful "Once Upon a Fool Ago," and the excitable "Scream." ~ Maria Konicki Dinoia, All Music Guide