My best friend and I have been eagerly waiting for George Strait’s latest album “Cowboys and Dreamers” but neither of us could’ve guessed that we’d be left feeling so tepid about an album from one of the biggest stars country music has ever had and who we both love a lot.

“Not loving any of it so far” they texted me after we’d heard the first half of the album which includes a Margaritaville/Jimmy Buffet-esque “MIA Down In MIA” that made me wonder if Strait knows that there aren’t many “small hideaways” in a major metropolitan area, especially on its beaches.

When it came to the title track for the album they said, “…if I had heard it not knowing I would have assumed it was Willie [Nelson] which is interesting for GS [George Strait]” and I agree, a Willie Nelson song done by Strait would be interesting but “Cowboys and Dreamers” is not an interesting song. It consists mainly of a chorus that is repeated with what I consider pretty minor dynamic differences in the vocals. I don’t think Willie has ever bored me like that before.

“Little Things” is the only track we had unalloyed positive reactions to and it was the single for the album. A smart move since in retrospect it was the strongest track.

By this point I start worrying that there is something critically wrong with the album because my notes for every song so far include the words “pleasant” or “nice” and I start succumbing to the urge to skip to the next track when I’m halfway through the one I’m listening to which is something I try to avoid on a first listen to an album, especially one I’ve been as eager for as I was for this one.

It suddenly struck me that what it is about this album I don’t like is the music. Like I just said, for every track I would write “Sounds pleasant enough.” or “George’s voice sounds great” and similar. But that’s just it – it only sounds pleasant. There’s no tension and release inside the album or in the songs. Even the songs with a rhythm section don’t have anything that propels the song musically. And when that’s the case then the lyrics REALLY have to hook you and hook you deep but on most of the songs the lyrics are very plain and don’t have any hooks.

This became even more apparent when I went back to Strait’s older material and started listening to my favorites. “Troubador” is better than “Cowboys and Dreamers”, “Love Without End, Amen” is better than “The Journey of Your Life”, and I’d rather be buying “Ocean Front Property” in Arizona than trying to find a MIA Strait on a crowded beach “down in MIA.”

My friend and I are disappointed with “Cowboys and Dreamers” but if Strait announced a new album today we’d both be just as excited for it as we were for this one and you’d find us both waiting for it to drop out of the clear blue Texas sky.