GEORGE STRAIT Here for a Good Time [MCA Nashville] George Strait sings “I’m not here for a long time, I’m here for a good time” on the title cut of his 39th studio album, but the fact is that he has been here for a long time. That’s not a knock; Strait has made a towering virtue out of consistency. The big news here is Strait’s continuing late-career development as a songwriter after three decades barely ever picking up a pen: He co-wrote... 

GARY ALLAN Get Off on the Pain [MCA Nashville] Leave it to Gary Allan to make ex sex sound romantic: “Kiss Me When I’m Down,” a standout track from his latest album, cleverly disguises a booty call with a sweeping melody and rich steel-and-strings orchestration. That kind of sly juxtaposition dominates Get Off on the Pain, Allan’s eighth studio album. He and coproducers Greg Droman and Mark Wright layer robust guitars, steel, piano, Wurlitzer,...