Search - Various Artists :: Heartworn Highways

Music this amazing should be illegal

Ryan Winkleman | CA | 10/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once in a very great while there comes an album whose sheer beauty leaves you speechless after you've experienced it. "Heartworn Highways" is one of those albums. If you're reading this then you should already know that it is the companion CD (the liner notes point out that it is NOT a soundtrack) to the film of the same name, which documents the country revivalist/outlaw country movement in Austin and Nashville during the 1970s. This album collects music taken from the feature presentation, along with music from the extra features on the DVD. Presented here are performances from Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Young, Steve Earle, David Allan Coe, Gamble Rogers, John Hiatt, and Rodney Crowell. Each song is a work of songwriting and performance genius, and each one is lovingly restored and remastered from the original analog tapes for unbelievable sound quality. Put this disc into a surround sound system and listen to the instrumentation come alive around you. It's easy to say that a given recording makes you feel "as if you're there(!)," but this one truly does give that impression. The sound quality is so pristine that you will never listen to modern digitized recordings the same way again. I guarantee it.



What this album is is a permanent capture of a special moment in time. All performances were recorded during December 1975 and January 1976. Country music has changed since then and many of these people have gone their separate ways from the community that is presented here. But on this disc, that community, that vital group that revolutionized music, is here forever for us to enjoy. The most amazing tracks are the ones where several musicians are collaborating. At the end of the disc is a series of tracks taken from an informal jam session at the Clark house from Christmas Eve 1975. It is truly incredible that these songs were got on tape, as this sort of thing will never happen again. These people dared to challenge music into going truly back to the basics; sitting with an acoustic guitar and telling real stories through songs, without all the extraneous additions that can obstruct things along the way.



Simply put, this is a magical piece of music. As I said, every song is excellent, and every performance of it is amazing. I listen to rock, country, folk, blues, soul, pop, classical, opera, and a bit of funk, and let me tell you: this is probably the best set of music in my entire collection, in songwriting, sound quality, packaging, and the obvious amount of love that went into putting this album together. It is absolutely amazing, every track. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy, preferably a CD copy instead of iTunes, because the booklet has a track-by-track commentary. You will weep for how far music has fallen. At least the majority of these guys are still alive and recording."