Feels Like Today

1	Where You Are 3:53
2	Bless the Broken Road 3:47
3	Then I Did 3:12
4	Feels Like Today 3:21
5	Fast Cars and Freedom 4:23
6	When the Sand Runs Out 3:46
7	Here's to You 3:38
8	The Day Before You 4:06
9	Break Away 3:11
10	Holes 4:18
11	Oklahoma-Texas Line 10:48

Barnes & Noble

Country vocal trio Rascal Flatts bring some extra urgency to their third album, Feels Like Today -- an intensity evident from the first acoustic guitar strums on the thumping album opener, "Where You Are." Steel guitars and mandolins lend a country flavor to several songs, but there's a decided rock tenor this time around, suggesting that the positive messages here needed some extra octane. As the rest of the disc unfolds, the group's strengths become more pronounced. Lead singer Gary LeVox's reedy vocals are even more affecting than they were on last year's Melt, and when he joins his mates -- Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney -- in harmony, the blend of voices is irresistible. On the gospel-rock fusion "Bless the Broken Road," a melody reminiscent of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" soars as the fellows raise their voices in a mid-tempo celebration of love sought, found, and treasured. The anthemic "Feels Like Today" tells a story of personal rebirth in a glorious arrangement that incorporates keening strings and a cooing female chorus buttressing the band's propulsive thrust and urgent harmonizing. The death of a friend is the impetus for a determined vow to live life to the fullest on the roiling rocker "When the Sand Runs Out," just as the arrival of true love in "The Day Before You" spurs a buoyant hosanna rich in booming drums, tasty electric guitar interjections, and layered, heartfelt harmonizing. All Rascal Flatts' hallmarks -- strong messages, fiery instrumental work, and deeply committed vocalizing -- are in abundant evidence here, making Feels Like Today feel like a winner. David McGee

All Music Guide

Rascal Flatts are such nice guys that it's hard not to find their music rather endearing, even if it's drifting ever further toward the middle of the road. On their debut -- highlighted by their breakthrough hit single "Prayin' for Daylight," a cheerful, infectiously low-key country-pop tune that remains their best moment -- there was a hint of a looseness to their performances, a suggestion that for as tasteful as the band was, they weren't too reserved. Bit by bit, that looseness has been refined, and the group has unapologetically wound up in the middle of the road by the time of their third album, 2004's Feels Like Today. Since they always traveled close to the center, this isn't a huge change, but it is noticeable one, because the tempos don't change as much, the dynamics are muted, and the album consists almost entirely of ballads. There isn't anything as effervescent as "Prayin' for Daylight," then, nor is there anything that's truly memorable as a single, but the guys sure are likeable, even when they're singing unabashedly formulaic adult pop music that has only a hint of country to it. And that likability goes a long way, making Feels Like Today a good, relaxing listen, even if it's a shade closer to background music than it needs to be. Stephen Thomas Erlewine