Stages: The Lost Album
Getting his start in the same coffeehouse scene as Dylan, Andersen is the rare '60s folkie whose work can match Dylan for lyrical and vocal complexity.  If that seems like an overstatement, a close listen to this album--recorded shortly after 1972's eloquentBlue Riverbut which was lost and not released until 1991--is in order.  Andersen sings every line with emotional consequence, and rather than rely on the quaint or precious impressions of most confessional writers, he mines a harder poetry of human choice and fate.  "Time Runs Like a Freight Train" is simply beyond summary.  And the whole velvety sound of his record--featuring backup from Leon Russel and Dan Fogelberg--is as sensuous and spiritual as Andersen's songs.--Roy Francis Kasten