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Music fans, we need to have a talk. Perhaps I should have said 'pop music'. More specifically, those people who consider themselves fans of a certain music legend named Garth Brooks. I've heard one thing these many years: "Man, I love Garth, but the Chris Gaines album was horrible." To which I can only reply: YOU'RE ALL INSANE! Honestly, it's one of the best recordings I've ever heard. The story that came along is irrelevant; it was a movie project collaboration with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds that fell through. (You can hear a testimony to Babyface's pervasive influence on the second track, "Lost in You." Vintage.) I took Brooks' advice: I just listened to the album, willing myself to imagine a new artist that I'd not heard. If that were the case, every music fan in America would say, "Wow, pretty good for a first time." And it was a first time, because it's a pop album. Admit it, the Chris Gaines record is better than the copy of Jennifer Lopez' On the 6 you bought, still hoping your friends will never find.

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