Trisha Yearwood: Everybody Knows (MCA MCAD11477)

THE PROBLEM with most country-pop hybrids is they blend the worst of both genres — the most predictable rhythms and melodies of country and the most overblown sentimentality of pop. It is possible, however, to combine the best of both worlds — the conversational storytelling of country with the emphatic beat and hypnotic hooks of pop. That's what Trisha Yearwood has been doing in recent years, and on Everybody Knows she proves once again that commercial country-pop can be done with integrity.