“You Can’t Make a Heart Love Somebody,” the leadoff track on George Strait’s 16th album, epitomizes the singer’s superlative taste in material. The song starts off with a wedding proposal, but rather than turn towards a cheesy ode to marriage, or a clichéd tale of abandonment at the alter, Strait leads the song into a heartbreaking exchange between two grown-ups. Lead On proves again that Strait can please the masses without resorting to juvenilia. The title track is a fireside ballad for longtime lovers, and “Nobody Has To Get Hurt” might be the most sincere plea for a second chance a country singer has ever delivered. To mix it up “Adalida” and “Down Louisiana Way” partake in some Cajun flavors, while “I Met A friend of Yours Today” is a graceful bar floor tearjerker. Still, the character in which Strait specializes is the spurned lover still faithfully waiting on his former flame. Thus, from the breakups of “What Am I Waiting For,” “I’ll Always Be Loving You,” and “No One But You” come some of Strait’s most devoted expressions of romantic longing.