Honkytonk University (2005)

Toby Keith's 13th album, Honkytonk University, wisely forgoes the rambunctious flag-waving of recent years to look deeper at the events and sounds that informed his Oklahoma childhood. The title track, set to a ragged Waylon Jennings beat, recalls his career education as a boy in his grandma's nightclub. Throw in some perfect heartbreak ballads and the charming loser duet ''She Ain't Hooked on Me No More,'' performed with Merle Haggard, and you've got a solid old-school effort with a Ph.D. in pain.