Just so that I can try to take another look at it from a different perspective, though, would you mind walking me through what about Tight Rope you liked?

It also comes down to the business side of things. Arista was already behind Alan Jackson as their Solo Male Vocalist and they couldn’t very well properly support him and one of these guys (much less both). They could however, support Jackson as their Solo Male and B&D as their Duo, which is exactly what they did and it worked perfectly.

As for why post-B&D material hasn’t caught on, it’s hard to say to what extent the age of the artists is a factor here. I think a big part of it is just the business. Who’s behind Brooks or Dunn today? I don’t even recall their respective labels, honestly, but whoever they might be, they’ve surely already got an established roster they’re behind. Part of the most successful duo of all-time or not, they’re now just solo artists trying to compete with their labelmates for the attention and support of the same marketing department.

The other part of it is, I think these two were instrumental in filtering out the weaker material that they would have turned in on their own. By having to win the approval of both guys, with their own sensibilities, they guarded against a lot of filler. That’s the real reason Tight Rope tanked: they each made their own half of the album and turned in their work separately.

Dunn has the vocal chops, but he needed the personality of Brooks and the distinction of being a duo right at the time the Judds broke up. That’s how they broke away from the pack.

His first two post-B&D singles were amazing, but would’ve done better if they were Brooks & Dunn singles, I imagine.

I can think of many male vocalists over the years with at least as much talent as Brooks or Dunn – Mark Gray, Dennis Robbins and Billy Yates come immediately to mind – but very few actually make it as solo artists

While I bemoan the current state of country music, I try to keep in mind that radio has always been about younger artists with older artists struggling to get airplay – this holds true for any genre of music. Bobby Bare commented a few years ago that during the days he was receiving airplay, he was glad of it, but it meant that radio wasn’t playing Roy Acuff, Lefty Frizzell or Hank Snow. Even in the past, when playlists were longer and disk jockeys could play requests, there was still an emphasis on playing the newer material. There has always been a continuous flow of artists beginning to receive airplay and artists beginning to lose airplay. For some the life of the process may be a few years while for others it may be a few decades but it happens to everyone

However, anyone not named Reba or George over 40 in today’s country radio and in today’s overall country music marketing scheme is all but forgotten. Country music has almost exclusively become a here and now genre with little room for what was. Kix and Ronnie are “what was”, so they’re not going to be given the fair chance to compete against the “what is” like of Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert.

You have them about where I would have placed them

The other interesting thing about the distinction between the two phases is that starting with Steers & Stripes, they became much more of an album act. There’s a lot more artistic cohesion to that album and its followup, Red Dirt Road than was found on their earlier work. Hillbilly Deluxe was weak, but their final LP, Cowboy Town is similarly constructed. They weren’t just collections of songs; they were albums.

To be honest, I was never a fan of the selection of “The Long Goodbye” as a single. There were at least three other songs on that album that should have been released as singles ahead of that, including “Go West” (vocals by Kix Brooks). Any time I ever find myself in a discussion about album cuts that should have been singles, that’s the very first one I cite. God, that recording was perfect! Also killer was “When She’s Gone, She’s Gone” and I still think “Lucky Me, Lonely You” would have made for a solid single and maybe a video, too.

Of course, Steers & Stripes remains dear to me as my favorite of their albums by far, and one of my favorites by anyone. I’m perfectly aware of my bias! :P

I feel “The Long Goodbye” has aged better than the other two huge hits you mentioned from Steers & Stripes, but both could definitely be on the list just as easily. They really were, in the end, a singles act, so it’s difficult to capture their full essence in just seven or eight songs.

Which may also be why they aren’t quite as high on the overall list. I’ve often referred to them as the Mariah Carey of country music. Amazing chart statistics, but the hits all bleed together and not too much of them are remembered once they’re off the radio.

I remember a review I read for one of their mid-nineties albums – might’ve been Waitin’ on Sundown or Borderline – where a critic noted that in the early days, country albums were a couple of hits and a bunch of filler. But on a Brooks & Dunn album, the hits are the filler.