STEVE EARLE
Transcendental Blues (Artemis)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Steve Earle continues to amaze me as much as make me very, very happy. He can do anything, be it whiskey-belching rock or be it truck hoppin' honky tonk, or he can step back in time and deliver a delightful piece of pop ("Everyone's In Love With You"} that, while all his own, could have floated easily onto the track list of Revolver.

Earle the storyteller goes far beyond that usual role in "The Boy Who Never Cried," keeping the main instrument acoustic guitar as you'd expect but bringing in a skewed string section and several other instruments, turning what could have been a simple story into a grand drama. "Steve's Last Ramble" is an uptempo country bash with all the fixins, the kind that makes you envision a small town festival, everyone dancing and having the time of their lives, and all this without having to close your eyes. Steve Earle paints in brighter colors than most. When he sings of loneliness, you don't think about lonely times: you're lonely. When he sings of joy, you feel the joy.

My point, belabored as it is, is that 99.9% of the artists out there can't do this. Perhaps only 4% can successfully make you think about those feelings and empathize for three minutes. Steve Earle's always been able to make you the lead character of his songs, and on Transcendental Blues he sends you on quite an adventure through several sounds and styles of music and more than a few situations that call for soul searching.

Clearly, there's been some serious soul searching on the other end of this CDs looking glass. If you need confirmation, listen to the last song, "Over Yonder (Jonathan's Song)," while reading Earle's self-penned liner notes. They don't give you the answers, but there is one thing they help make some sense of: those moments of sadness, loss and pain you felt when you lived some of these songs. Sounds dour, but there's plenty of heel kicking to balance it, and you don't get allowed in like this too often. I recommend the experience.

And hey, even if you're so shut off that you can't sense any of that, this album is one fine piece of work in all phases of the game.

© 2001 - DJ Johnson