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 George StraitFor the Last Time: Live from the Astrodome Release Date: 2003 02 11 Label: MCA Records Rating:  |
The "For the Last Time" in the title does not refer to the last concert George Strait ever gave, nor does this suggest that this is a farewell to live albums; in fact, it's the first live album Strait has ever released. The "last time" refers to the last concert of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo ever given in the Houston Astrodome, a show that Strait headlined, breaking records by drawing 68,266 people, the largest audience the venue ever saw (for the record, he top-lined the first Livestock Show at its new home, Reliant Stadium). This was a big, big occasion -- highlighted by an on-stage guest spot by former President George Herbert Walker Bush, where number 41 proclaimed that "everyone in Texas loves him and everyone across this country loves his music" -- so it makes perfect sense that it would be commemorated with an audio souvenir, and For the Last Time isn't bad at all on those terms. Its biggest problem is its nature: it captures a big-stage, big-sound production, where it's about the spectacle as much as the music, so when it's presented as a CD, it's not as exciting as the concert, nor is it as exciting as many of his straight studio records. It's professional, well-performed, and enjoyable without being dynamic, surprising, or lively; it never feels as lived-in or real as the best of Strait's music. Part of the reason for that is the song selection, which is heavy on ballads and mid-tempo numbers, de-emphasizing harder country and Western swing. When they do go for purer country, such as on the death-of-country-music lament "Murder on Music Row," it sounds great, but this is not about gritty country, this is a soundtrack to spectacle. It's fine as that, but it's not the great live George Strait album it could have been. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Tracks:
| Title | Composer | Time | |
| 1 | Deep in the Heart of Texas | Hershey, Swander | 1:34 |
| 2 | Write This Down | Oglesby, Robbins | 3:31 |
| 3 | I Can Still Make Cheyenne | Woolsey, Barker | 4:58 |
| 4 | Heartland | Bettis, Dorff | 4:52 |
| 5 | Love Without End, Amen | Barker | 3:05 |
| 6 | Check Yes or No | Wells, Oglesby | 2:53 |
| 7 | Fireman | Vickery, Kemp | 2:49 |
| 8 | Run | Lane, Smith | 4:11 |
| 9 | Murder on Music Row | Shell, Cordle | 4:22 |
| 10 | Chair | Cochran, Dillon | 3:02 |
| 11 | She'll Leave You With a Smile | Blackmon, Knowles | 2:55 |
| 12 | Amarillo by Morning | Stafford, Fraser | 3:02 |
| 13 | Living and Living Well | Shapiro, Nesler, Martin | 3:34 |
| 14 | Take Me Back to Tulsa | Duncan, Wills | 3:17 |
| 15 | Blue Clear Sky | Sanders, DiPiero, Jarrard | 2:42 |
| 16 | Cowboy Rides Away | Throckmorton, Kelly | 3:57 |
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