Three Days (Republic/Universal, 2001)

A product of the same collegiate Texas circuit that made an unlikely hero out of Robert Earl Keen, Pat Green is seemingly much more willing to assume the Texas party-music crown and take it to the rest of the country. His sales on the home front have been impressive, but does the music hold up outside the Lone Star State barrooms?

The short answer is no, not really. Green, like any mainstreamed version of a musical style, is a blander, garden-variety urban cowboy with an uninspiring voice and an average-at-best songwriting ability that hits all the clich+s without bringing anything new to the dance. This major label debut, with about five previously released songs, has all the trappings of the big time that he has been prematurely anointed for.

The arrangements are clean and professional, the production is crisp, and Green's vocals are front and center. There is even an attempt at gaining some street cred through a duet with Willie Nelson on "Thread Bare Gypsy Soul."

The overwhelming effect of all this is a numbing sameness that should provide plenty of new sing-alongs for the frat boys in bars nationwide.