Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are hard-workin' men – blue-collar singer-songwriters whose sweat-over-art ethic has paid off big time. It's powered their no-nonsense assembly line of tunes about drinkin', breakin' up, hangin' on and stoppin' to smell the roses high onto the country charts, selling 2.5 million copies and yielding four Number One country hits from their 1991 debut, Brand New Man. On the follow-up, their music is still as dependable as an old Chevy; it's never flashy, easy to understand and good for a joy ride as long as you're not expecting too much.

What's missing? The high gears: Punch and passion. There's a governor on this baby that kicks in whenever Brooks and Dunn get close to rocking out. Granted, they get within spitting distance. They'd have to, since the title cut, which is already wedged way up the charts, hitches its ode to nine-to-five pluggers onto a chugging Chuck Berry beat. And "Rock My World (Little Country Girl)" baldly rips off Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Green River" riff in its intro. But just when it seems like a guitar or piano solo's going to push these songs into overdrive, the arrangements cough and sputter back into third.

Another problem is credibility. Everyone from Garth Brooks to Jimmie Dale Gilmore has proven that it's not only okay for country artists to stomp and stretch their Strats a little but that there's more to write about than the old clichés. Yet when Brooks and Dunn intend for songs like "I Can't Put Out This Fire" and "That Ain't No Way to Go" to tug the heartstrings, their writing is so full of lipstick notes on mirrors and pay-phone calls in the rain that it sounds more like they're yanking our chains.

But Hard Workin' Man is a smooth-running machine, fueled by Dunn's burr-edged lead vocals, the duo's strong harmonies and choruses built on hooks heavy enough to pierce even the heartiest Saturday-night honky-tonker. And that's what hits are made of, on anyone's assembly line. (RS 656)

TED DROZDOWSKI