"Country rocks ... but bluegrass rules." If Ricky Skaggs was looking for a manifesto for his long-awaited bluegrass comeback, he couldn't have done much better than this disc's five-second preamble. Contractually barred from recording bluegrass for more than 12 years, Skaggs has obviously been champing at the bit. After the aforementioned introduction, he promptly unleashes an instrumental "Get Up John" that still has smoke wafting from my CD player. Dandy versions of "Little Maggie," "If I Lose," and "Rank Stranger" follow, to single out just a few. The musicianship here is uniformly superb, especially Skaggs's own mandolin playing, the guitar work of Bryan Sutton, Bobby Hicks's fiddling, and even a nice guest turn from Jerry Douglas. If there's any justice, the commercial success of Bluegrass Rules will send a strong message to record companies: Bluegrass music can and does sell records, especially when it's as flawlessly executed as Skaggs's latest. Let's just hope we don't have to wait as long for the next one. --Mary Park
