Crusades Of The Restless Knights
Nearly titledTen Zen Sins, Ray Wylie Hubbard's second Rounder release extends and deepens the spiritual tug-of-war of his mature, postoutlaw work. Starting with the thunderous, folk-rock curse of "Crows," the album moves through tent-revival grooves, barrelhouse odes to red dresses, bottleneck meditations on plane wrecks, spare talking blues, elliptical ballads, and bluegrass-laced messages of hope. Rather than offer platitudes or pat answers, Hubbard tests the mysteries he finds with always one more intense temptation, one more unsettling question. Such is Hubbard's dense lyrical vision, and his musical settings are just as telling. For the first time he coproduces with Lloyd Maines, emphasizing the sounds of cutting slide guitar, Dobro, and mandolin and accenting his melodies with female harmony fromPatty Griffin, Lisa Mednick, and Terri Hendrix. At a time when many singer-songwriters are courting the adult-contemporary audience with safe, pop-oriented fare, Hubbard's lyrical crusade remains tense, chancy, and remarkably wise.--Roy Kasten