In Brief

* * Mark Chesnutt, “Almost Goodbye,” MCA. Garth Brooks sang about “Unanswered Prayers,” and it’s hard not to think of Chesnutt’s third album as “Unfulfilled Promise.” The Texan’s pliant, nimble voice just skims over material that ranges from predictable at best--”My Heart’s Too Broke (To Pay Attention)”--to downright maudlin (“The Will”).

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).