In Brief

** Collin Raye, “In This Life,” Epic. Raye’s smoky, Don Henley-lite voice is gentle on the ears, which is fortunate, since there’s not much here that stirs the head or the heart. Ballads sound like Hallmark cards set to music, but he’s likable enough on the upbeat stuff. The clear standout is his remake of “Big River,” a 35-year-old song by one John R. Cash. Music Row song factories, are you listening?

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).