Before heading into “retirement” like an old pair of dusty cowboy boots, Garth Brooks was a standard artist on any bona fide country-music lover’s cassette tape. The crooner’s 10th album, Double Live, recorded live during a world tour, marked the climax of his popularity. The disc became the best selling live album since 1976, when Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive! held the title.

The ’90s were a golden era for country music still loved today, even by those who have sworn off the genre. The songs on Double Live are Brooks’ greatest hits and are driven by a steady, slow country beat with twanging guitar overtones. The musician keeps true to his country roots by using a fiddle in many of his tracks.

Hits such as “The Thunder Rolls,” “Rodeo,” and “If Tomorrow Never Comes” are exhibited in this album with musical clarity, but with the occasional roaring, exuberant crowd in the backdrop. The listener can truly feel they are amongst white Stetsons and worn Wranglers.

The album, as a whole, combines all that makes true country music authentic — rolling thunder, a little rodeo, and shameless love.

— by Hanna Rosman