In Brief

*** George Strait, “Easy Come, Easy Go,” MCA. The follow-up to “Pure Country,” which was Strait’s biggest seller yet, includes several of his liveliest, most expressive vocal performances in years. He still tends to get syrupy in the flat-out love songs, but the upbeat honky-tonkers glide along like Tony Lama boots on a slick dance floor.

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