Badlands
With this concept album, Marty Stuart pays tribute to the Sioux culture of what is now South Dakota and to the inspiration ofJohnny Cash, whose band once included Stuart and who also developed a strong affinity for American Indian traditions. Though it's hard to faultBadlands' good intentions and pointed social commentary, much of it is stronger thematically than musically. Spoken-word interludes that provide transitions might not bear repeated listenings, while the wordless "Hotchkiss Gunner's Lament" (with Stuart's wife,Connie Smith, providing atmospheric vocals) succumbs to new-age romanticism. Yet music and message achieve a powerful synthesis on "Broken Promise Land," where the urgency of the performance bristles with righteous indignation, and a revival of Cash's little-heard "Big Foot." From Custer and Crazy Horse through Sitting Bull and Wounded Knee, Stuart offers a musical history lesson of tragedy than cannot be ignored or denied and hope that still glimmers.--Don McLeese