It's difficult to keep up with Billy Ray Cyrus. The singer clearly has the chops and energy to record relevant country music, but with every new album comes a new direction -- and perhaps a new haircut. 'Change My Mind,' the title track from his new album (in stores this October), finds the singer playing the bad boy, as a storm of edgy banjo and electric guitar playing swirls around him. 

This is a good driving song. The beat rolls by like white lines on the highway. One can feel the heat of danger in the character Cyrus introduces, and it never lets up or apologizes. The lyrics, while simplistic and somewhat presumptive, tell a colorful story of a man who leaves his woman... and then changes his mind.

"Well I said that I loved you / I then I said good bye / I know I made you happy and then I made you cry / If I promised you forever / Then I told you a lie / But lately I've been thinkin' and I'm thinkin' 'bout changing my mind," Cyrus sings in 'Change My Mind.'

There isn't a true chorus, but there's plenty to remember in the way the story is told. This isn't a man begging forgiveness -- it's a cowboy announcing he's returned with no promise that he won't be gone again soon.

"I'm thinking 'bout changing my mind / I've been talking to myself / I thought I put your memory high upon the shelf," Cyrus adds toward the end, repeating the phrase that opens the song.

Even if one counts the 'I'm American' album as a one-time project to show support for the military, you still have to compare 'Change My Mind' to previous singles like the touching and sappy 'Back to Tennessee' and 'Ready, Set, Don't Go' (this song is better and nothing like the rowdier fare on the 'Back to Tennessee' album).

A dedicated direction creates trust with fans. Chasing rabbit trails -- no matter how entertaining and heartfelt -- leaves one weary of what's coming next. This big picture philosophy shouldn't matter in a review of one single, but the idea chips away at Cyrus' believability. Here it costs him a half star.

3 Stars
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Listen to Billy Ray Cyrus, 'Change My Mind'

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