The follow-up to
Foster & Lloyd's hit-packed debut only spun off one
country Top Ten entry ("Fair Shake"), but don't be fooled -- the overall quality of the songs on Faster & Llouder is just as good, if not better, than that of the songs on the first album. The relatively low chart placings for follow-up singles "Before the Heartache Rolls In" and the
Lloyd-sung "Suzette," therefore, were a bit of a puzzle at the time, and seem even odder in retrospect. The
Foster & Lloyd formula of two parts
country to one part
power pop still works well, and if
Foster (who takes most of the lead vocals) tends to dominate a little more of the group's sound than
Lloyd, it's still
Bill Lloyd's subtle
pop/rock touches that end up allowing this record to transcend the duo's origins as Nashville songmill peddlers. Years after its release, Faster & Llouder still holds up as a superior example of "new
country" -- one that just happened to be recorded a few years before the term "new
country" was invented. ~ Rudyard Kennedy, All Music Guide
