Part II of our look at the top ten country albums of 2006.

Perhaps the most difficult way to make a really superlative

album is to play by all the rules, and just do it better than everyone else. The lift here comes from smart songwriting and from

, a forceful instrument that gets

the more gently she applies it. If Peck fails to become a

, it will be for extramusical reasons:

—not "pretty" like Faith Hill, but

—for country's predominantly older female demographic.

Worley was tagged as a

after

(a bold riposte to the ... uh, approximately

who didn't want

) rode the conflation of

and the Iraq war to the top of the chart in

, just as the Dixie Chicks were getting

. "Forgotten" aside, Worley is actually a thoughtful singer-songwriter with a flair for

and

.

, his latest is a

, the sound of

. Sealing the deal is

about an American soldier's anger and confusion at not being greeted as a liberator. It's bleak and daring, and Keith wouldn't touch it with a

Nashville tried, and failed, to get in on the

of a few years ago. Now that Britney is a divorcee with two kids, it finally succeeds with this

. Swift neither plays for cuteness, nor poses as

; she simply uses her native intelligence to express clearly to anyone who will listen her hopes for the future, her

and her dawning awareness that

The

finished sixth on the latest season of

, which in Nashville narrowcasting terms is a dream marketing setup. Add the right collaborators (like

), and you wind up with an

featuring a

who's

.

brought sexy back to pop in 2006 (or at least announced that intention), but country apparently wasn't ready for the same. Everett's slyly insinuating singles

and

(as in, things he wants to do to you, sweet thing) barely dented the charts, and

. Everett

and by July was

. You know what that means:

.

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," but I'm sure someone in Music City can swing it. -

For Part I of this article, see yesterday's blog.

What do you think? Are these the top ten country music albums of 2006 or did we miss something? Tell us what you think - just leave a note in the comment section below. Thanks!

• Pop Life