Earth Rolls on
Father and son Shaver achieve one of their most powerful syntheses to date--punctuating the plainspoken poetry of Billy Joe's hardscrabble songs with the electrifying charge of Eddy's blues-rock guitar. Recruiting musicians that includeSpringsteenbassist Gary Tallent andWilco's keyboardist Jay Bennett and drummer Ken Coomer, the Shavers push country music to its extremes. It's hard to imagine a more exhilarating anthem than the album-opening "Love Is So Sweet," a funnier kiss-off song than "Leavin' Amarillo," or a gut-punch testament that hits harder than the collection's centerpiece, "Blood Is Thicker Than Water." On the six-minute title cut that closes the album, Eddy displays a subtle sensitivity at odds with his reputation as a guitar firebrand. Unfortunately, one of 2001's best albums is a bittersweet triumph, a renewal for the father but an epitaph for the son, with Eddy's death following the sessions.--Don McLeese