Lari White News

The last adjective usually attached to Toby Keith is "tame."

However, despite the evocative title "White Trash With Money," the Oklahoman's new album is his most mild-mannered collection since the late '90s, before he busted out of the country music pack by emphasizing his outspoken opinions and swaggering personality.

The timing comes as a surprise, considering this is Keith's first album for his own label, Show Dog Records. It's also the first he's co-produced with Nashville veteran Lari White, who brings a horn-driven R&B feel to several tunes.

The stage seemed set for Keith to step even further out on a limb. Instead, he retreats to safer ground, balancing sly humor with tender sentiment on most of the songs. The results are sometimes funny but too often forgettable.

A couple of tunes strike stances his fans will recognize. His current hit "Get Drunk and Be Somebody" is the kind of lighthearted ode to weekend warriors at which he excels. He also unapologetically — some will say obnoxiously — jumps into political incorrectness with "Runnin' Block," about a buddy who goes on a blind date with an overweight woman to help his friend score with her slimmer sister.

But too much of the material, such as the ballads "Crash Here Tonight" and "Too Far This Time," would fit the repertoire of most any Nashville singer. Keith has spent years celebrating how different he is; now is not the time to start sounding like everyone else.