In Brief

Billy Ray Cyrus, “Storm in the Heartland,” (* 1/2) Mercury. Cyrus wants to matter in the worst way. Most of the time, that’s how he does it on his third album. One song poignantly sketches a motorist’s reaction when he glimpses a sign that reads “Patsy Come Home.” More often, the situations are overworked, the gruff vocals overwrought, the crashing choruses overcooked.

*

Aaron Tippin, “Lookin’ Back at Myself,” (**) RCA. A visceral hardness in Tippin’s vocals permeates his songs, and while it is right for a working-class boast like “I Got It Honest,” it robs the ballads of warmth, the album of emotional range.