it loads a mite slow: the STEVE EARLE ALBUMS poll

i like his voice and his singing, but i can see them being offputting. basically i think he's a country-blues singer, which is obv. different than a southern-rock singer. and his music has basically no boogie, so yeah i think southern-rock comparisons are off. otoh his couple of country-reggae stabs ("rivers of babylon," "johnny too bad") work way better than they should. not that i think he should do a whole album of that or anything.

but it's mostly about the songwriting. he borrows a lot of hooks but he borrows pretty good ones, and he's written a bunch of nice lines. "devil's right hand" is as good a classic-country lyric as anyone wrote in the late '80s. (even if i don't blame anyone who likes waylon's version better.)

"devil's right hand" is as good a classic-country lyric as anyone wrote in the late '80s. (even if i don't blame anyone who likes waylon's version better.)

Actually, Webb Wilder has pretty much the definitive version of that song (for me, at least).

guitar town is one of the best debut albums ever

I love Guitar Town but like the Mats or Husker Du I'd love it more if the production wasn't so tinny.

The middle stuff for me...

Train a Comin'
I Feel Alright
El Corazon
The Mountain

In that order, I guess. Have not heard the latest (have pretty much given up). The last decade worth of stuff became just too scattered - two or three good songs per album, but three or four embarrassingly unlistenable ones. Like Euler, the production on the earlier stuff turns me off too.

I love Guitar Town but like the Mats or Husker Du I'd love it more if the production wasn't so tinny.

-- Euler, Monday, March 10, 2008 5:42 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

yeah i mean, there's a certain amount of stuff from the early to mid 80s where you just have to decide to deal with the production of the day...

On "Johnny Too Bad", I love both Earle's claustrophobic production (where it sounds like you're inside the bass drum, like on the Stones "Honky Tonk Women") and the tightness of the band, the V-Roys, whose first record was produced by Earle and is another of my favorites from the 90s. I agree that a reggae direction would probably have diminishing returns.

yeah i love the v-roys, the first album especially. (their live one is good too. they were a hell of a live band. they opened for him some dates on the i feel alright tour, that was a good double-bill.)

The V-Roys' second record isn't bad either, but it's spottier. But that last song is a real tearjerker. My brother tells me Scott Miller is making some cash now working some kind of comedian tour, so that's good news.

The Mountain, but he doesn't get all the credit. I'll take Guitar Town over I Feel Alright.

i forgot about the v-roys they were decent! does anyone remember the hangdogs? they had this awesome song called "monopoly on the blues"

El Corazon is the only I got into. It was the first one I listened to. I got I Feel Alright next and sounded kinda similiar but not quite as good so I didn't bother anymore.

the video for copperhead road is some kind of '80s country-metal peak.

1. I Feel Alright
2. Train a Comin'

^^^^^^ damn straight cowboy

Train a'Comin for that song and Rivers Of Babylon

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Wow, Jerusalem got a vote?