South of Heaven West of Hell
Though Dwight Yoakam's debut as a Western film director won't threatenJohn Ford's legacy, the soundtrack provides a liberating opportunity. Freed from commercial expectation, he lets his creative impulses roam freely beyond the corral of country classicism, from the tone-poem sophistication of "Words" to the spiritual traditionalism of "The Last Surrender," from theSpringsteenesque balladry of "Somewhere" to the extendedAllmanesque fade of "No Future in Sight." Songwriting collaborators includeZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on the Texas twang of "The First Thing Smokin'" andMick Jaggeron the barroom weeper "What's Left of Me." Bekka Bramlett contributes vocal support, including an over-the-top duet on the rocked-out gospel of "Who at the Door Is Standing," while the between-song movie dialogue seems to provide more padding than atmosphere.--Don McLeese