Can country-rocker Dierks Bentley make it three No. 1 tunes in a row with new ballad?

Dierks Bentley's become known for his driving-country sound, but his newest single from his Feel the Fire CD is a ballad. Can he make it to the third-times-the-charm top spot again with a ballad? (Photo: Courtesy of The Greenroom.)

Award-winning singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley is known for his revved-up country-rockers, but with his forthcoming single, the Arizona native's taking it down a few notches. Question is, will fans like his slower pace?

Granted, only time will tell, but Bentley and his camp are banking that his newly unleashed track, the Conway Twitty-esque ballad titled  "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes," will have the same magic of his current album's last two singles, "Feel That Fire" and "Sideways," both of which hit the No. 1 spot.

The "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes" cut shipped to country radio last week and July 27 marks the date that it will go for official adds. If the Boston Globe's "essential" ranking of the tune is any indicator, both fans and radio will dig Bentley's ballad, which has been dubbed as "boldly intimate"by the Globe and likened to "a slow smolderer in the vein of his 2005 hit 'Come A Little Closer'" by The New York Times.

As for the singer's take on the number, it "can't be more intimate, more one-on-one, man-to- woman, if you tried."

Moreover, he adds, "One of the best compliments I can get is when a guy comes up to me and says that one of my songs helped him out at home ... maybe helped him smooth something over with his girlfriend or wife. That's the goal with this one."

For a limited time, although no one has clued this scribe in as to how limited, country fans can sample the tune by clicking here.

At this writing, Bentley--who recently scored international artist accolades from the CMA--is currently opening forBrad Paisley's "American Saturday Night" tour. For a full list of tour dates and appearances, please visit www.dierks.com.

More Dierks reading: Dierks Bentley snags American Songwriter cover, will be first country act on PBS series, Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn surprised with International Artist Achievement honors, Redhot country: Dierks Bentley releases Feel That Fire on Feb. 3, hits promo trail, Singer-songwriter Dierks Bentley gets 'Sideways' with country radio March 2, Dierks Bentley premieres music video in honor of 'Sideways' on iTunes, Country star Dierks Bentley unleashes music video in honor of 'Sideways' hit, Official Dierks Bentley Web site,