

The album's first single, "Just Fishin'," perfectly captures the sentimentality of a father and an elementary school-age daughter spending a morning on the water, with the focus more on togetherness than on what they catch.

Other songs rise to the same level, from how the title cut recognizes the blessings that have come his way to the way the songs "Days Like This" and "Poor Folks" find beauty in a simple life.

Adkins can rock, as he's proven regularly in the past. But when he slips into a conversational tone and delivers story songs about what matters most to him, as he does throughout "Proud to Be Here," he is as good as anyone in contemporary country music.

---- Associated Press


"Yours Truly"

Three stars

Sublime with Rome

Fueled by Ramen

Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh would truly have been androids to reuse the Sublime name with some hack attempting to fill the late, visionary Brad Nowell's shoes. But Rome Ramirez, 23, is no hack. He's a fanciful upstart with a breathy croon that never annoys.

So "Yours Truly" begins with a miracle, the expectations-exceeding "Panic," which nails the original Sublime's toothy edge and juggle of three styles in one song (ripping guitar and horn solos, too). But only two other tracks try to rock, making the album's other miracle, the huge-hit-in-waiting summer reggae "Lovers Rock," an achievement all Rome's.

The rest of the credible, dub-via-"American Idol" here is mostly pleasant and twice too corny ("PCH," ''Spun"). More rock, please ---- Brad would have wanted it.

---- Scripps-McClatchy


"In the Mountain in the Cloud"

Three stars

Portugal. The Man


Portugal. The Man has built its career on pursuing its wild ambitions, no matter where they took the band.

Sometimes, the band from Wasilla, Alaska, sounded like The Beatles. Sometimes, it sounded like prog-rock experimentalists. The unpredictability, especially in concert, only added to its allure, which is what makes "In the Mountain in the Cloud" so surprising.

The band's sixth album ---- its major-label debut ---- builds a sleek, coherent vision of anthemic rock, combining its quirks with a new level of grandeur. "Everything You See (Kids Count Hallelujahs)" is a multilevel, kindred spirit to Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs," while "So American" puts up a bit of glam swagger against an acoustic backdrop.

Even more impressive is how everything is steeped in Portugal. The Man's unique point of view. John Gourley's vocals go from a soaring falsetto to an understated sing-along in "Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now)," as he warns, "Got it all till the revolution comes." The epic, six-minute-plus closer, "Sleep Forever," somehow manages to channel bits of Motley Crue, Oasis and Coldplay as it builds into a stadium-ready anthem.

It's a sign of how Gourley and friends have learned to incorporate their ambitions into a single vision on "In the Mountain in the Cloud," setting them up to have the breakthrough year they have long deserved.

---- Scripps-McClatchy



Three stars

Imelda May


