Alan Jackson is a restless sort. His last two CDs were a set of gospel tunes and a surprisingly mellow project with Alison Krauss. Now he comes forth with a supposedly straight-ahead country album that turns out to be not so straight-ahead after all. Jackson has a reputation to defend as a honky-tonker, but he's always shown a wistfulness that separates him from other big-hat acts like Toby Keith. So it comes as no surprise that of the 17 songs on Good Time, it's not the honky-tonk ones that make an impression; the best tracks -- like "Small Town Southern Man," "I Wish I Could Back Up" and "I Still Like Bologna" -- are reflective, even meditative, and carry a surprising amount of emotional wallop. The music is pure Nashville, but without Jackson it could be too shiny and polished. That's not an issue, though, as his depth of feeling carries the day.

-- Lee Froehlich