Sugarland

The world didn't even realize it was waiting for Sugarland until they arrived, their big, bold sound earning them star status straight out of the gate by blending country passion, rock strut, and pop dazzle. Blonde bombshell Jennifer Nettles' stadium-sized voice and siren-next-door sex appeal comes bursting out of Sugarland's ballads and barn-burners alike, whether she's belting out the powerhouse pop hooks of "Something More" and "Want To" or getting down and dirty with the twang 'n' roll crunch of "Settlin'." And when Sugarland settles into a cover of the Dream Academy's '80s pop hit "Life In a Northern Town," or Nettles links lungs with Jon Bon Jovi on "Who Says You Can't Go Home," genre lines blur to near-invisibility around a larger-than-life sound whose hit-bound hallmarks are piled here like hot-buttered flapjacks just waiting to be devoured.