Album Review – Steve Earle’s “So You Wanna Be An Outlaw”
Steve Earle isn’t just your average aging thinning-hair post-mainstream relevancy Americana dude who was kind of big in the 80’s. At 62-years-old, he’s probably the youngest guy who can legitimately claim honest ties to the original country music Outlaw movement of the 70’s. As an understudy of Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell, whose fresh face and stringy hair can be seen sitting around Guy Clark’s kitchen table in the iconic Heartworn Highways documentary, the Texas native wasn’t there when it all went down, but he arrived shortly thereafter, and took the spirit of shaking up Nashville and making the music you want straight to heart when he released those early records on a major labels and had legitimate Top 10 singles with songs that were essentially socially conscious Southern rock anthems.
If Steve Earle would have died in a grizzly motorcycle accident after releasing his third record Copperhead Road in 1988, we’d be petitioning to put him in the Hall of Fame right now. He would’ve been bigger than Townes Van Zant, and maybe even Keith Whitley as a guy that went out in a blaze of glory before his career was every allowed to thrive. But Earle didn’t die, and so we were allowed to see his demons surface in public view, his misdeeds play out in headlines, and frankly, watch his career and creative output take ebbs and flows that leave history’s judgement of him still inconclusive.
Steve Earle doesn’t have skeletons in the closet, they’re all right out there in public display. Yet he’s also inclined to criticize others, even though he lives in the mother of glass houses. Steve Earle inflicted more collateral damage releasing So You Wanna Be An Outlaw than an 80’s Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie, taking to task Hayes Carll, Richard Buckner, Noel Gallagher, and who knows who else yet to surface as further interviews get transcribed. You would think with all this hazing, Steve Earle’s new album would be darn near perfect, right?
But it’s kind of a mess. Yet so is Steve Earle, and that’s what a lot of his fans like, and what they come here for. The preamble to this record was how it was inspired by Waylon and the other Outlaws, but aside from a few songs, that’s not exactly what I’m hearing here. Steve Earle knows better than anyone that all of these lunkheads who fly the “W” and think that all Waylon ever did was release half-timed songs with phase guitar that hard cuss Nashville are completely off base, but that seems to be the primary direction Earle points his nose when evoking Waylon on this record.
“So You Wanna Be An Outlaw” comprises the opening song and title track, and is frankly hard to follow. Too wordy and somewhat disjointed, you’re worried when listening to Willie Nelson’s contribution that the poor man’s gonna run out of breath and tip over trying to keep up with Earle. Willie’s been having breathing issues, you know. Hopefully they didn’t start by him trying to wheeze his way through the rapid-fire pentameter of this song.
“The Firebreak Line” is only 3-minutes, but Steve Earle makes it feel like six trying to satiate himself enough to stop screaming “Cuttin’ out a fire break line!” with undaunted rapidity. The hot shot firefighters that Earle is attempting to canonize here are fighting a war that most Americans are completely unaware of, and these young men and women are making sacrifices and putting their lives at risk in the same valiant effort as the troops. They’re heroes, but this really isn’t conveyed in Earle’s song. It just makes them sound like single-minded grunts.
By the time you get to “Fixin’ To Die,” you feel like you’re listening to bad Molly Hatchet. Luckily though, there are some good tracks in between, despite some production issues. “Lookin’ For a Woman” isn’t a standout, but it’s fine, except for the fact that whomever was engineering this thing had the feeder on Earle’s vocals so high the signal ended up getting fuzzed out. I’m guessing this was on purpose. Like Waylon did it? In fact as go you through this entire record, the vocal channels and guitars are all set way too high, and crackle out regularly. The Dukes are a good backing band, but they’re not really allowed to shine here. Earle is able to recruit Miranda Lambert to sing on “This Is How It Ends,” but what’s the point of including an angelic voice if it’s corrupted by bad levels and poor production?
It feels like Steve Earle fell into the same trap we’re seeing all across roots music, which is the theory that music sounds better when you purposely make it sound like shit. Like the oldtimers did it. Which is completely untrue. The oldtimers were working with recording limitations at times, but they always did their best with the equipment provided. This is supposed to be Steve Earle’s return to the major label world and all the accoutrements and creature comforts thereof, and it might be the worst-sounding album of his entire career. And this criticism shouldn’t be taken as wanting it to sound all pretty, but you can at least keep the signals from clipping. This is recording engineering 101.
There’s nothing to be done about this, though. It’s baked into So You Wanna Be An Outlaw. And listening through whatever production issues, and whatever ill-advised songs that made it on the record, there is actually some good, and great material here.
“News From Colorado” finds the album’s first more sedated, singer-songwriter track, and the type of sentiment you expect from a Steve Earle song. The excellent moments of “Girl On The Mountain” is the exact reason you put up with Steve Earle and all of his bullshit. And maybe I’m partial to “Walkin’ in L.A.” because it’s a total Texas dance floor boot scooter with a true and well-written West Coast story at it’s heart, and features the great Johnny Bush singing duet style. And who could quibble with Earle’s goodbye letter to one of his mentors and heroes, Guy Clark, in the album’s final track, “Goodbye Michelangelo.”
Steve Earle is one of these characters who makes you accept the good with the bad. He doesn’t make it easy for you to be a fan and sometimes it’s messy, but some people love to sift through rubble in hopes of finding that shimmering gem, however unpolished. Most artists worth their salt are a little messy. They’re just usually better at hiding it than Earle. Steve doesn’t give a shit what anyone else thinks, like the rest of us wish we could. And that’s why when it’s bad, it’s easier to ignore it. And when it’s good, you pump your fist a little bit harder for him. He’s Americana’s anti-hero: hard to love, easy to hate, and happy to oblige his fans and enemies alike. But he’s got your attention, and sometimes that’s what matters the most.
1 1/2 Guns Up (6.5/10)
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Note: There is a deluxe edition of this album that also includes covers of “Ain’t No God in Mexico,” “Sister’s Coming Home/Down at the Corner Beer Joint,” “The Local Memory,” and “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way.”
June 19, 2017 @ 8:03 am
I’m glad you brought up the production issues. I first listened to it on a bluetooth speaker in my garage and it sounded fine but when I put headphones on later, I noticed how shitty the vocals sounded. You can especially tell on Willie’s vocals where it just sounds fuzzy and static-y. Other than that, I like this album more than the last few Steve Earle albums. I really wish he’d do a back-to-basics Guitar Town/Exit-0 style album one of these days though.
June 19, 2017 @ 8:44 am
Maybe its because I “pump my fist a little bit harder for him”, but I really like this record. It’s certainly my favorite thing he’s done since “The Revolution Starts Now”. I haven’t listened through headphones yet, so haven’t noticed the production issues, but it has a cohesive sound to it that feels like its been missing from his last few records. Glad I splurged for the bonus tracks, I think they add a lot to the feel.
June 19, 2017 @ 9:01 am
Agreed, I’m a pretty big Steve Earle fan but I haven’t really got into any of his albums since Washington Square Serenade. This one is a huge leap forward for me.
June 19, 2017 @ 9:07 am
I haven’t listened to the album, but is it possible Steve Earle is held to a higher standard than most because he has so many fantastic songs in his past? Would this be considered a very good album by newer artists in Americana? Or is it fair to hold him to a higher standard because we all know what Steve Earle is capable of when he is really good?
June 19, 2017 @ 9:58 am
I can’t speak for anyone else, but before I go to review an album, I always try to push the reset button and block out any previous conceptions of their music from myself or the public and simply ask, “Is it good?” A lot of times I talk about the past of an artist in reviews because I also use my reviews as features to talk about how an artist fits into the greater narrative in music.
June 19, 2017 @ 10:35 am
For me, in this case it was the opposite. I have found the last couple of his albums kind of mediocre, so this one came as a pleasant surprise.
June 19, 2017 @ 9:13 am
I’m not buying any music (or streaming) where I flipping can’t understand it. I’m through, it’s disrespectful to consumers.
June 20, 2017 @ 8:24 am
Yes, this. Couldn’t agree more.
June 19, 2017 @ 9:21 am
Is this the same video you used in your last article about him?. I remember thinking:
This does sound like a waylon song, except (obv.) for the voice, maybe it was just nostalgia on my part and I only heard what I wanted to hear?
But I still think it sound late 70s / 80s. Even if the produktion is bad.
June 19, 2017 @ 9:35 am
And the song sound a bit like Waymore’s Blues maybe that’s why it reminds me of Waylon
June 19, 2017 @ 9:27 am
This is one of the few reviews from this site that i cant fully get behind. I thought it was a solid effort from Earle. I do hear some production issues but it far from plagues the record as a whole. The one quib i do agree with is Fixin to Die. Very harsh song and sounds like it was recorded in a frat house garage. But for me, that was about the only misstep. My record shop didnt have deluxe version but will be checking those covers out.
June 19, 2017 @ 4:29 pm
I wanted to add also for all the physical copy nerds, the liner notes on this one are quite poignant. For Earles standards it seems like a very heartfelt project and one hed wished to accomplished years ago. Cool memories of Guy Clark, Crowell, Waylon, Tompall, and old Nashville. I wont spoil it for anyone but its worth checking out, very cool project i think.
June 19, 2017 @ 9:52 am
I’m admittedly not always good at hearing production issues with this kind of stuff. I noticed it with Margo Price and Luke Bell for some reason, and I did notice that Zephniah OHora’s album at least SOUNDED better than those two, but I don’t always catch these things. Personally, if there are problems with this album then it doesn’t bother me, but I understand the complaint.
My big gripe with this album is that it does kind of miss the point of outlaw country – it wasn’t so much about just living hard and killing your lovers, it was about artistic freedom. None of that really gets mentioned in the title track (my least favorite track), but Steve did say this is the album he would have made after Guitar Town if he had the chance, so maybe it’s that. I don’t know.
I do know that no matter what the hell Steve said prior to this album or whatever its intentions may be, it’s one of the most enjoyable, consistent projects I’ve heard this year. Steve’s voice hasn’t been great since…..uh……well you get it, but here he doesn’t sound half-bad save for a few moments. I enjoyed “Fixin’ To Die” for owning the angry feel, and like I said, while the only moment that really blew me away was “Goodbye Michelangelo”, there’s not a song here outside of the title track that I disliked.
Solid effort from Steve IMO, but again, I get the gripes.1 3/4 Guns Up for me (8/10). Next thing you know ol’ Steve will be complaining at “those fucking bloggers who live in their mother’s basements who didn’t get my album” or something like that 😉
June 19, 2017 @ 10:01 am
This is a “fun” record so to speak, and that’s how you must approach it to hear through the production issues, and some of the rawness of some of the tracks.
June 19, 2017 @ 10:02 am
Ugh. The clipping on this track kills it for me. When I record my own stuff I obsess over making sure nothing is clipping.
June 19, 2017 @ 10:47 am
I can totally understand using certain recording techniques to create stress or tension in the music, or to make it sound like it’s from an old recording on certain songs for mood and such. I think a good recent example is Jason Isbell’s “Cumberland Gap,” where clearly the signals are muddled on purpose to bring out the anger and frustration that the story of the song conveys. But to purposely have the signals on the vocals clip as if this is some artistic expression is just ridiculous.
I know a lot of these production things can be too esoteric for some listeners to hear, and so you can’t factor them in too much. But sometimes they hear a song or an album, and just don’t connect with it for some reason. For me, the clipping took a good album to just a decent album.
June 19, 2017 @ 3:43 pm
Oh, I totally get it as an aesthetic choice (heaven knows I prefer my vocals smothered in reverb, echo and crude analog distortion, especially live! I love country, but don’t play it. I’m not nearly good enough a guitar player or songwriter, thought I’d like to think I make the most of my limitations).
The problem is that it just doesn’t sound good here, unfortunately. I know that it’s intentional, but it doesn’t sound that way – it sounds like the stuff I’d complain about during mixing (and have, and do). It sounds accidental, and not in a good way.
June 19, 2017 @ 10:29 am
Admittedly, I’m not an expert at production issues, so they really have to stick out to bother me, or even for me to notice them, so I can’t fairly comment about that.
About the outlaw part, Steve said recently in one of the interviews–I can’t remember if it was The Guardian or the Globe and Mail one, but I think it was The Globe and Mail, which we all remember for the Richard Buckner business–what outlaw actually meant, and you’re right, he knows better than anyone. I think there’s a lot to be said about the title, So you Wannabe an Outlaw, like it’s sort of a record poking fun at what people think outlaw means, or at least saying it in a tongue and cheek way, on the first half. You have prison songs and stuff, etc, I could be way off, but I think that’s the point, and then you get to the back half, which is more about loss and heartbreak, and it starts to paint pictures of what being an “outlaw” actually entails, and that it’s not just a cool label for people to adopt. Like, there are so many records trying to be cool outlaw these days, and I think that’s what Steve is speaking to with “so you wannabe an outlaw.” I don’t think he’s trying to evoke Waylon in that sense so much as in the sound which he did with evidently the production, and with just the general sound in a lot of these tracks, as well as a lot of these covers. Anyway, I guess I”m saying he understands what “Outlaw” means quite well, and I think this was directed at those who don’t.
Really enjoying this record, 8.5, that would be 1 3/4 Guns Up here.
June 19, 2017 @ 11:16 am
“what outlaw actually meant, and you’re right, he knows better than anyone”
No offense, Megan, but I think that’s horsesh*t. Waylon and all the others were really clear and up-front about what “outlaw” really meant. We don’t need Cheesegrater Steve to flip us the bird and tell us if we weren’t there in that desert shack smokin’ and drinking ourselves to death with Townes, “we can’t possibly know what outlaw really meant.” Right Steve, it’s all just a big frickin Mystery.
How’s about Steve writing some good songs without the chip on the shoulder? He’s not going to be on any Mount Outlaw Rushmore. Why? Because he doesn’t have the tenderness of the guy who wrote “Greensboro Woman,” that’s why.
And maybe he knows it. Hence all the anger.
June 19, 2017 @ 11:27 am
NO offense taken, but a little confused. I don’t think he’s flipping any of us the bird, and “knowing better than anyone” was just a quote from Trigger’s original article. I’m not saying he’s trying to school us all on what it means, I’m saying he’s maybe trying to school all the people trying to make “outlaw” records who think it means something different. Or like the Eric Churches of the world who use it as a cool label–and yes, I do like Church, but that’s how he uses it–, or the Luke Bryans of the world who say something stupitd like I don’t lay in gutters and do drugs…that’s what I was going for…but again, I could be way off.
June 19, 2017 @ 12:18 pm
…have you listened to Girl on the Mountain?
Or, you know, any of his full albums?
The angry stuff just gets the headlines, because it’s a convenient narrative.
June 19, 2017 @ 4:31 pm
fair question, so I listened to “The Girl on the Mountain Here,” and recommend it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9qEA0buan4
Earle describes himself as a “romantic,” an optimist (in love), an idealist (in politics), and that song is a real good expression of that for two reasons: one, it’s sloppily played, and two, the girl on the mountain is Up There, where she can remain ideal
and, I should say, “safely” remain ideal
just like with sloppy playing, and sloppy production, Good Recordings can remain ideal, and Earle can remain optimistic about future ones I guess — but the problem with romantics is that they have trouble facing not only reality out there, but the reality inside of them. maybe the girl on the mountain stays on the mountain because Earle keeps her there.
if you don’t try hard, you can protect yourself from “failure”
if you remain more in love with ideals than reality, then you don’t have to learn
if you don’t commit, you can always think the grass is greener with someone else
if you don’t put polish on your project, you can avoid judgment and lash out at criticism
you can’t avoid reality — not for long, and not forever
June 19, 2017 @ 10:44 am
This album is going to get me a speeding ticket. I’ve avoided getting one for 13 years, but when I put this album on – especially Fixin to Die – I look down and I’m doing 80 through school zones.
A few weeks back I pirated a terrible audiofile of SYWBAO – it was like eating hot pizza and the cheese keeps burning the top of your mouth, but you keep eating it because your starving. So in comparison to the deluxe version I downloaded Friday, the production isn’t so bad.
I love SYWBAO. It does slip out of Outlaw mode and back into the comforts of Americana a few times. And there’s nothing really that original in the content and playing or production. But, it’s been the record I’ve been waiting for – for decades. Willie (although I’ll be laughing the next time I’m listening to the title track because of your comments), Miranda (Earle’s done this same song with Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris on past albums), and Johnny Bush (he gave me a pick last year at Willie’s 4th of July picnic) were just icing on the cake.
I never bother with the gimmicky deluxe portions of albums. However, I love these covers (and I’m an anti cover guy). Will I still “love” them in a few weeks? Maybe not. But, for now they are fun. And there’s something right about Earle covering these Willie and Waylon standards – he’s lived the life worthy of covering them.
June 19, 2017 @ 10:49 am
In the middle of listening to this right now, and loving every second. This might be Earle’s best album in years. Production sounds fine to me, but listening on cheap headphones at work with lots of noise around isn’t likely to be the best test of that. I certainly will not mind listening to this one many times over, though.
June 19, 2017 @ 10:51 am
I’ve never been an avid Steve Earle fan. I’ve listened to this album a couple of times now (just to take a break from Isbell’s newest). I like most of the songs okay, and much better than most of his recent efforts. It keeps growing on me with each listen, and I should wait to comment after a few more times. However, it seems like Earle usually has something to say in his records. The music usually serves as a frame to lyrical art and stories. These songs are pretty empty frames. While I like the beat and the clanging of the fuzzy guitars, I come up empty at the end of most tracks. Other than a few standout tracks like “This is how it ends”, “Goodbye Michelangelo”, and “Ain’t no God in Mexico” (Deluxe Version), if it didn’t have Earle’s name on it, this album would sound like a ton of other garage band recordings.
June 19, 2017 @ 10:51 am
I think the songwriting is stellar on this album. Excellent.
I really like this album quite a lot.
A lil bit miss with the production, but this album is a winner.
This album has had more spins from me than the Isbell album. I just keep coming back to it. it is just more fun.
But it is all personal taste.
I would have this rated higher. I’m with Megan, 8.5.
June 19, 2017 @ 10:56 am
Thanks for the review. I also recommend the deluxe version; available at Amazon.com. Link is: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0716DV7XS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
June 19, 2017 @ 11:28 am
Love this album possibly his best since Transcendental Blues although you never know with a recent release where it fits in to the catalogue and if you will keep going back to it.I like the raw production it gives it an edge.I’m listening to the LP version if that makes any difference sounds great to me.As well as the uptempo guitar thrashing numbers there are beautiful ballads with the last one on the album proper being a lovely tribute to one of his mentors Guy Clark.Side 4 on the LP are covers from some of the greats of outlaw country and Steve & the Dukes do a great job a fun set of bonus songs.Certainly in my top 5 of the year so far
June 19, 2017 @ 11:51 am
Man, I love Willie, but it’s time for him to start turning down “guest vocal” spots. This was pretty weak. Almost brought to mind “Beer for my Horses”.
June 19, 2017 @ 3:01 pm
I don’t blame Willie here at all. He should have never been asked on this track, and if he was, they could have at least given him a fighting chance. It doesn’t even sound like Willie. Go listen to his latest album, “God’s Problem Child.” His voice is old and weathered, but it still sounds eloquent because it’s captured in its pure form. Here it’s blown out all to hell because the engineer had no idea what he was doing, and the words were too rapid fire for him.
June 19, 2017 @ 12:22 pm
I’d probably give it a 7.5 or 8 out of 10…mainly because I love Fixin to Die (like hoptowntiger, I’ve been roaring along to it in the car), and the covers on the deluxe edition are just about perfect.
June 19, 2017 @ 1:02 pm
I like a lot of his work, but his lazy mediocre pipes always dissapoint. Perhaps the rest of the album is somehow better. Sure didnt get the ” outlaw” vibe off that song.
June 19, 2017 @ 1:38 pm
As I have understood it Waylon never did like be called an outlaw
When he was Sweden in -86 . He was asked this question by a journalist: Are you still an outlaw? He answered: No, I don’t think I ever was…You can se the rest here: https://youtu.be/mJTjsOsIuRI?t=1m6s But some people seem to think that he invented it
June 19, 2017 @ 2:23 pm
someone should organize a tour with Bocephus, Steve Earle, and David Allan Coe. it could be called the “We Old Farts Don’t Give a Shit What You Think” tour.
June 19, 2017 @ 3:09 pm
I’d love it, both because I’m a fan of all three, but also because a massive brawl would have a high percentage of breaking out. As long as I’m not in the middle of it, that’d be a fun time. Coe’s bikers vs. Hank’s rednecks vs. Earle’s leftists would make for quite the conflagration.
If any of the three performers go at it, I have money on Coe throwing the first one at Earle.
June 19, 2017 @ 6:12 pm
As a Earle fan, this album is better then his last few; but not as good as his first 5 or 6. It has a handful of solid songs, but would sound 3 times better if they turned the voice up and band down a little. I have wished for his last couple albums he would work with a producer that would let Steve and the band do what they want, but nicely point out it would sound better if they did that…
June 19, 2017 @ 6:20 pm
Not sure how they could screw up the title track so badly. Overproduced and Willie Nelson, god bless him, just ruined that song.
June 19, 2017 @ 7:41 pm
Steve Earle is a national treasure. I’m biased on this, because I recognise genius. This album is great. Sure, some tracks are recorded loud, most are not. Either way the lyrics are all Steve Earle, and that is kinda why he is a national treasure. He writes damn good songs…. I do disagree strongly with one point made in the review. That if he’d been stopped after Copperhead Road that we would be having a different conversation about him. We didnt really get to know how great he was until post prison. “Train A Coming” really was the coming out, but “I Feel Alright” and “El Corazon” were really the albums that kick started the underground country scene as it is today.
June 19, 2017 @ 11:01 pm
Yeah, I’m not sure how depriving the world of his two best albums (I Feel Alright and Transcendental Blues) would have secured his spot on Rushmore.
June 19, 2017 @ 11:21 pm
The point of the comment about the first three records was not to completely discount all of Steve Earle’s output afterwards, though he never again had a hit song, and the drugs and arrests clouded public sentiment on him. Really, you could make that statement about any artist whose career started off with a few high-caliber records.
June 19, 2017 @ 11:28 pm
I gotcha…but I feel that statement’s akin to saying that Isbell would have secured his legacy if he’d drank himself to death in 2006, after his three great DBT records.
This is, of course, colored by my viewing Copperhead Road, and most of Guitar Town, as largely disposable rock-country that mistakes desperation for depth. Like Isbell, I don’t think he hit his stride till he got sober in the 90s.
June 20, 2017 @ 8:10 am
I think you’re being a bit harsh on Copperhead Road and Guitar Town, but I absolutely agree that he didn’t reach his full ptential until the 90s.
June 23, 2017 @ 9:08 am
One of the best movies I’ve ever seen in my life was when I closed my eyes while listening to Copperhead Road. Yeah, he’s an asshole at times, but CR’s a fucking masterpiece.
June 19, 2017 @ 7:45 pm
I liked the album. It is one of his strongest in a while. Always love hearing Willie & the Miranda co-write was also strong. ??
June 19, 2017 @ 9:48 pm
Maybe it’s my love of punk and garage rock, but the production on this album sounds great to me. I know a lot of people would prefer the vocals to be cleaned up, but I really enjoy the staticky, distorted sound they have. I felt the same way about Miranda Lambert’s last album, something about that distortion just pulls me in.
June 19, 2017 @ 10:07 pm
FUCK steve earle.. I was once a huge fan until the mid 90’s. I was in the crowd at the Knoxville Bijou when he blamed ‘us’ for the political policies of the state and the states stand on the death penalty.. wtf? He demanded we overturn the death penalty or he was moving to another state…wtf? I paid a half a paycheck for front row to listen to that? …He can eat a bag of dicks,.. His best stuff was when he was on smack. Nobody can argue that fact..
June 19, 2017 @ 11:04 pm
Having heard I Feel Alright and Transcendental Blues, I can very much “argue with that.”
Since, you know, they blow Guitar Town and Copperhead Road out of the water, leaving them angling for third with Train a Coming and El Corazon.
June 21, 2017 @ 5:34 pm
Train a comin and I Feel Alright were good, but after his ‘come to Jesus moment’ of prison, he was all about sticking it to ‘the man’ and rebelling as a middle age man.. Really? grow the fuck up.. don’t rip your audience. That’s why this ‘legend’ is playing to 2 to 3 hundrend seat places instead of areans..He’s about to come back through Knoxville in a 700 capcity venue… and I, and my former Earle fanatics, give no fuck..
June 19, 2017 @ 10:44 pm
This sounds like shit. I listened to the Miranda duet too… sound like shit. His singing sucks. She can’t follow his phrasing. The production and engineering is god awful. And by the way, I like punk and low-fi recording. This is just stupid. He’s a legend in the Americana world but I don’t know that he’s relevant.
June 20, 2017 @ 7:08 am
He has got more mileage out of 60 days in the hole than anyone ive ever heard – you would think it was 5 years or so anyways to hear him talk. Think im going to hell is just the same line repeated 1000 times, and that song about looking for a woman wont do me like you – sounds like it has about 5 minutes worth of effort put in to writing it. Really not impressed with the Guy tribute either – the one for Townes “Ft Worth Blues” is a classic. He is just cranking out product for the 100K records he is going to sell no matter what he puts out.
June 20, 2017 @ 5:23 pm
I really appreciate the comments here, both pro and con…great discussion. This is in contrast to the reader reactions on SCM’s posting re Steve’s interview in the Guardian. Commenters there not only thought Earle is a loud-mouthed fool (which he sometimes can be) but also that he’s a songwriter of no special talent. Really? Re. the uneven quality of Steve’s later output: I tend to be forgiving of artists who have produced great, great music in their younger days but whose more recent stuff isn’t up those standards. It’s obvious that the career arc of many great creative artists fits that pattern. My feeling is they don’t owe us anything more than they’ve already provided.
June 20, 2017 @ 7:21 pm
Yeah, it’s one thing to call the man a jackass (and it’s an inevitable by-product of his greatest strength as an artist – his refusal to give a shit about what anyone else thinks about his perspective).
It’s another thing entirely to pretend that he isn’t an incredible songwriter.
June 20, 2017 @ 6:22 pm
It’s time for this old kook to be put out to pasture.
June 21, 2017 @ 5:43 pm
he needs to record more ENEMY SYMPATHIZER songs like John Walker Blues…that’s what the people wanna hear… fuck him
June 21, 2017 @ 10:25 pm
He reminds me of a teenager in a suburban neighborhood whose biggest problem growing up was that his brother grabbed the last Pop-Tart and left the empty box in the pantry. Then one day, he saw one injustice in the world and couldn’t handle it, so he grew out his hair, got angry at the Man and his parents for conforming. He preaches to all us “backwards hicks” don’t judge, while judging us “backwards hicks” for not agreeing with his coastal elites. All while living a life of debauchery and being a deadbeat husband and father.
June 23, 2017 @ 6:07 pm
Damn I love this site.
June 24, 2017 @ 5:36 am
Yep. Right after I check my personal stuff, email and such, I head here. Always a laugh or thought provoked. Not to mention my new favorites that I’ve never heard before.
June 27, 2017 @ 3:46 pm
I personally love this cd. Steve Earle has always had this type of sound . That sound appeals to me. I think “Sunset Highway” is an incredible song. This record will,and should, be considered,one of his best works,right along side of ” Exit 0″,and “Terraplane.” This album gets a big “Thumbs Up” from me !!!
July 3, 2017 @ 8:00 pm
I agree with J. Blunt. Strongly disagree with Trigger’s overall take on Steve Earle.
July 3, 2017 @ 8:14 pm
What’s my overall take?
July 3, 2017 @ 9:18 pm
IMO it is disrespecting four consecutively great post prison albums. I feel his musical legacy is much stronger with those “classics” in his catalog. I love Copperhead Road too.
July 4, 2017 @ 7:50 am
Yeah, someone else commented about that above. I wasn’t as much disrespecting his later albums as making a comment about how his first albums were very commercially successful and had singles on the radio, and then his subsequent output wasn’t, and how artists who die early end up getting immortalized greater than their output.
My overall take on Steve Earle is definitely more positive than negative, as is this particular review. I see the flaws in Earle and speak to them because that’s my job as a critic. But ultimately it’s the grade I give that is my overall take.
November 1, 2017 @ 7:38 pm
Late to this party. I think this was an effort to add bars, clubs, and dancehalls to his tour schedule. At least I hope so. I’m wondering if he’s ever played electric guitar on an album before? That seemed to be the overall concept here, (other than a couple of the songs) to plug in, turn up, and have fun with his band. Any schmuck can make a perfect sounding album these days, so going in the opposite direction would make total sense for him to do because that’s what he does. I have to believe that he had an engineer as good as anyone who did know what he was doing Trigger, but was attempting to do what he was asked to do. I enjoy the wordier stuff and the twists and turns this album takes. The overall feel is good, and fun. I’d love to hear these songs in a crowded Texas dancehall. They’re perfect. I think this album shines a new light on Steve and is one of his best.
March 28, 2018 @ 8:39 am
I’ve been a long time admirer of Steve’s work. After his move to NYC & New West Records, I went from being addicted to his records to just liking them. It seemed to me that when he moved to NYC, he lost the edge that you once found in his recordings. I liked “Washington Sq Serenade”, “Townes” & “I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive”, but I didn’t find myself reaching for them like I did his recordings from the past. “The Low Highway” & “Terraplane” were moves in the right direction. This one I have found I’m reaching for moreso than the previously mentioned releases. While it doesn’t have the bite of his great MCA releases or his post rehab/jail recordings in 90’s and early 2000’s, it does have an edge that has been missing for a while. I absolutely love “Looking For A Woman”, “Sunset Highway” & “Walkin’ In L.A.”. The duet with Miranda Lambert is good, as are the other tunes that are found on this album. The title cut took some time for me to like. When I first heard it on a video from a concert appearance, I thought it was awful. I still felt that way after I bought the album. Strangely, it grew on me as time wore on. Now I find myself wanting to hear it more. The cover tunes on the deluxe version are very well done and pay great tribute to Waylon, Willie & Billy Joe Shaver. Steve’s always been an interesting artist & person. I just get the feeling that if he had stayed in Nashville, he’d still have that edge to his music that has been missing. It’s almost like Steve needs something or someone to smirk at & give the finger to. Music Row and it’s inhabitants seemed to be a great inspiration for him to do that. Without them, it’s almost like he’s become too isolated by his happy, hippie folk living lifestyle in NYC to be challenged to create something to rattle them (and him) to life. I’m not saying I know this for a fact, it’s just a feeling I have about him as an artist & from what I’m hearing from his latest records. This one has been a breath of fresh air. I hope there are more to come from him like this one.
March 17, 2019 @ 8:35 am
Is it just me, or does it serm.as though Steve’s hustvreisdued the same damn album over and over with a different name? I love Steve, have every album and have seen/met him, but I’m sorry, I just don’t see any personal growth ijn any of the last 4-5 records. He’s still playing the same stuff that was new in the 90s. Everything sounds exactly the same. Even the album artwork is the same. It’s become boring. And coming from a guy who can write the most beautiful and heartbreaking love ballads I’ve ever heard, it’s just sad that he doesn’t seem to be trying any more. It’s like he actually believes that being called the Hardcore Troubadore by DJs everywhere has exempted him from having to be more creative instead of less.