{$Trisha Yearwood} took an unprecedented four years between her eighth album, 2001's {^Inside Out}, and its 2005 follow-up, {^Jasper County}. The reasons for the extended hiatus were part creative and part personal, as {$Yearwood} weathered the storm of going public with her relationship with {$Garth Brooks} (as of the release of {^Jasper County}, the couple were engaged to be married) -- but the long wait proved worthwhile, since {^Jasper County} is one of her very best records, stretching further musically than most of her albums while being more cohesive than most as well. Reuniting with longtime producer {$Garth Fundis}, with whom she's done most of her best work (he did not helm {^Inside Out}), {$Yearwood}'s picked a set of 11 songs that aren't just uniformly strong, but are quite diverse. While there's a strong bluesy undercurrent here, highlighted by the slow-churning opener {&"Who Invented the Wheel"} and the {$Bobbie Gentry}-styled Southern {\country-soul} of {&"Sweet Love,"} this is firmly a {\country} album, with few concessions to {\pop} crossover. The tracks that do have a lush, slick surface tend to be the big {\ballads}, such as {&"Standing Out in a Crowd,"} but those tend to be grounded with acoustic guitars and {$Yearwood}'s impassioned delivery. Plus, even those sweeping slow tunes are offset by such excellent {\ballads} as the heartbroken {&"Trying to Love You"} and the epic {&"Georgia Rain,"} which are pure {\country} and lend the overall album a sweet, reflective quality. Even if the album does tend toward relaxed, meditative tunes, {^Jasper County} works because instead of maintaining that introspective vibe throughout the album, {$Yearwood} and {$Fundis} bring in not just those bluesy, soulful songs for balance, but they find two rip-roaring {$Al Anderson} songs -- the white-hot {&"Pistol"} and the old-fashioned {\honky tonk} anthem {&"It's Alright"} -- to give this more {\country} grit than has been heard on any {$Yearwood} album in a long time. At a mere 38 minutes, the album moves along briskly, not just because of the short running time, but because the album is paced well, moving gracefully between {\ballads}, {\blues} like {&"River of You,"} and rollicking uptempo tunes. The end result is not just one of {$Yearwood}'s most entertaining albums, but one of her richest records, in both musical and emotional terms as well. [This edition includes the bonus track {&"Love Will Always Win."}] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide