re: Did Garth Brooks Rip Country Music's Soul Out?

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Garth was a first crossover hit guy. He just hit a spot. Seattle was starting but had not taken off. GNR was flailing, Metallica is metal so they arent for everybody.

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I'm assuming your first sentence meant to say Garth wasn't the first crossover hit guy, which is true. Even when he came along, country was starting to gain some crossover appeal. Randy Travis had a couple of corssover hits in the late 80's. Reba McEntire had started gaining some traction. And if I remember right, Alan Jackson's first album was popular before Garth's first one was. In fact, I think Garth's first one was widely panned until the first hit off it exploded - forget if it was The Dance or If Tomorrow Never Comes.


A lot of that is off memory, so my memory may be off a bit. But overall I agree with your point - Garth's arrival was perfect timing, and either The Dance or If Tomorrow Never Comes catapulted him into notoriety. Much Too Young was the first single off that record and barely made a blip on the charts.