It's confession time. Much as I try to deny it, I am a closet country music fan. I blame the influence of my father, who honestly believed that the antidote to my mother's constant playing of Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard records lay in the songs of Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and Crystal Gayle. Maybe I should have told them they were both wrong, but that's kind of difficult when you're just a baby and haven't learned how to talk yet.

Evidently, I wasn't alone, as the United Kingdom had never embraced country music with quite the same vigour as the United States. But in 1999, that all threatened to change. Faith Hill had managed a fairly decent hit single with the country-pop sounding "This Kiss" in late 1998, and Shania Twain's country-rock was going down a storm with the British public. Into this arena stepped the Dixie Chicks, with a slightly more country sound that Faith Hill, but with a pop edge that would hopefully make them more acceptable.

It didn't take long for "I Can Love You Better" to change my mind. It's a jaunty, bouncy up-tempo pop tune with a slight country twang in the vocals and guitars that are really about the only things to distinguish the song from any decent pop song. It's one that gets your feet tapping and would sound great played loud on the road with the soft-top down.

If the last couple of songs were pop songs with a country edge, "Loving Arms" is simply a pop ballad. There is very little to provide an indication that it's performed by a country act although it does remind me a little of the kind of thing Crystal Gayle used to do, although the group vocal is perhaps a little more like the Corrs.

"You Were Mine" is pretty much along the same style as "Loving Arms". Apart from the slide guitar and the occasional fiddle, this is essentially a pop ballad that wouldn't be too out of place in the hands of Faith Hill, now that she seems to be concentrating on more pop-orientated music.

For the first time, I can just about imagine Dolly Parton not minding "Once You've Loved Somebody". It's similar to "Never Say Die", being a country ballad, with only the group vocals really making it sound much different from the old style country numbers, which for some reason I associate with solo artists, rather than groups.

It may be, having been bought up with a more old-school style of country music, that my impressions of the genre are a little out of date. To me, "Wide Open Spaces" doesn't sounds entirely like a country music album, more a pop-country music album. There are tracks on here that would fit fairly well in the country bracket, but equally there are others that could really only be considered straight pop tunes. However, looking at the output of artists like Shania Twain, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes over the last few years, it does seem that this is the way country music is headed. If that's the case, I like it!

At only 44 minutes, it's not a long album, although that was a fairly typical playing time when it was released. However, it is available at a lower price than many albums, at £8.99 from Play.com or £7.99 from Amazon. For those who don't mind second hand copies, it has been seen at the Amazon Marketplace from £3.84 and on eBay from £1.80. If you like a bit of country, but not too much or if you're open to expending your musical horizons just a little into country music, this is a good way to begin and good value for a decent album.