Tim McGraw: Set This Circus Down (2001)

(As published in Blender ... )

Tim McGraw
Set This Circus Down
(Curb)
***

Tim McGraw has never decided what he likes about women more—their power to civilize men or their power to drive men wild. On his first release since being named Father of the Year last summer, Mr. Faith Hill declares foursquare for civilization, either by celebrating domesticity or by lamenting its passing; only on the yearningly nostalgic “Telluride” do his desires stray beyond the home. Elsewhere, the material ranges from predictably pleasant to pleasantly predictable. The exception: “Angry All the Time,” in which McGraw embodies a quietly devastated husband so movingly that one gladly overlooks “Things Change,” his rather glib attempt to nominate himself the successor of Hank Sr., Elvis, Waylon, and Willie.