If 2007's Big Dog Daddy seemed like a back-to-basics move after a fewyears of wandering, its 2008 successor, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy,seems downright primitive in comparison. Hard and heavy with guitars,That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy is a roadhouse album at its core withblues playing a larger role than honky tonk here. Keith cranks thosethree chords hard on the tough "Creole Woman," runs through a talkingblues on the slyly funny "Time That It Would Take," and lets it smolderon his lonesome soldier anthem "Missing Me Some You," subtly weavingsome deep Southern soul horns into the chorus.

Those horns are about the only subtle thing here, as "Cabo San Lucas"hits its south-of-the-border accent shamelessly hard, while the rollingacoustic "You Already Love Me" piles guitars upon guitars and theballad "She Never Cried in Front of Me" escalates in a crescendo suitedfor arenas. This pumped-up swagger comes close to exaggeration, but asa producer Keith favors well-defined muscle to steroid-fueled blusterand his writing is similarly lean and natural, turning That Don't MakeMe a Bad Guy into a record that's at once brawny and humble.