Gary Allan has long been one of country's most reliably velvet-voiced beautiful losers. But on his ninth album, the 45-year-old singer lets the crazy out - howling psychobilly on "Bones," interrupting a recovery-meeting church organ to blame mental ghosts on "It Ain't the Whiskey." On "Sand in My Soul," he vegetates in room 108 of a beachside hotel, letting his hair grow to his waist while the sound of college girls shooting tequila in the parking lot only makes him more antisocial. Elsewhere, he's a ladies' man refusing to settle down (except when he does), and his high-register hiccups convince you he's having more fun than a spring-breaker half his age.

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.