The album opens with a light, popish piano riff...and then a shotgun blast and screaming electric guitars, and the unforgettable line: "Played a Telecaster/Til my fingers bled Bud Lite". If that ain't honky tonk, I don't know what is.

Travis Tritt is a modern-day outlaw. Though this album doesn't at all showcase his superb songwriting skills, it does highlight is voice and rebellious attitude. The rhythms, the lyrics, the style--it's all here, for your listening pleasure.

While there's a lot of fun and games on this album, it does get serious in spots. The song "We've Had It All" (written by Tritt and friend and frequent collaborator Marty Stuart) is genuinely romantic, while the powerful "Circus Leaving Town" harks back to the days of George Jones and Conway Twitty. "I See Me" is a tender, surprisingly un-cliched look at fatherhood, and "What Say You," the hit duet with John Mellencamp, not only preaches political noncomfority and acceptance, but puts a staunch Democrat and a staunch Republican in the same recording booth. I see a message there, somewhere.

MY HONKY TONK HISTORY is a stellar effort from Travis Tritt. Always an over-the-top performer, with a combination of rebellious attitude and genuine sensitivity, Tritt has managed to make yet another memorable album. Hopefully, this one will reinvigorate his career, and keep him going for many more years. Lord knows, he has the talent.