Garth Brooks, still earnest, returns to new country era

Garth Brooks became the top-selling musician in the United States in the 1990s by giving country music's earnestness an arena-rock aura. But at the height of stardom, he chose to bow out gracefully.
Releasing his first album in 13 years, "Man Against Machine," Brooks makes it seem as if there were never a break. He avoids tinkering with his smooth country sound as he relays a new round of sincere, if at times sappy, tales of small-town America.
But the music world has changed dramatically since Brooks left the stage. Thanks in no small part to him, country music has increasingly become mainstream with two country artists topping the main Billboard album sales chart in recent weeks alone.
At the same time, overall album sales have plummeted and the use of technology -- never Brooks' favorite area -- has become critical to artists.
To launch his album, Brooks joined Facebook and Twitter, with his first tweet featuring a shot of the 52-year-old in his trademark Stetson hat with the aptly chosen #GarthSelfie hashtag.
Brooks, a longtime holdout from iTunes, has also started to sell his music digitally through his own GhostTunes site which he says will let artists decide themselves what to sell and for how much.
- Juggling family and career -
Brooks -- fueled by the crossover popularity in the 1990s of his songs such as "Friends in Low Places," "The Dance" and "Unanswered Prayers" -- remains the third-top selling artist ever inside the United States, topped only by The Beatles and Elvis Presley, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
But Brooks decided with his 2001 album "Scarecrow" to put his career on hold to raise his three daughters back in his native Oklahoma after his divorce and, later, his new marriage to fellow country singer Tricia Yearwood.
Asked about his temporary retirement, Brooks fought back tears as he told reporters, "I found my purpose for the rest of my life."
Brooks again choked up as he recently performed a first song from the new album, "Mom," on ABC television, flying to New York for the live broadcast for a matter of hours between arena shows in Minneapolis.
The tear-jerking ballad tells of God speaking to an unborn child in the womb. Brooks sings of motherhood, "Hush now, little baby, don't you cry / 'Cause there's someone down there waiting whose only goal in life / Is making sure you're always gonna be alright."
The song, which Brooks said rivaled "The Dance" as the favorite in his repertoire, has quickly been embraced by anti-abortion activists. Brooks leans to the right politically but has not been overtly political and has also been a longtime champion of gay rights.
- Rusty after his break -
In the title track of the album, Brooks returns to his familiar theme of ordinary people feeling left out. He describes a Hobbesian world in which workers toil longer hours but it is "the machine" that is "living the American dream."
"Prepare yourself for a war unlike anything you've ever seen / This is man against machine," he sings.
Brooks himself has had some trouble fighting a "machine." In July, he canceled five concerts in Ireland as authorities pressed him to play fewer shows amid residents' complaints over traffic.
But Brooks in September launched a tour of US arenas that runs through January.
Despite the all-out comeback tour and album, Brooks said openly that he feels rusty as a songwriter. He wrote or co-wrote only three of the album's 14 tracks.
"I didn't trust my pen yet on this album. I'm not there yet. So I went with the songs that I wish I could have written," he said.
Source: AFP