Rodney Crowell,
The Outsider



Label: Sony Nashville

(4½ out of 5)

Many fans split over which is Rodney Crowell's best album: The Houston Kid or Fate's Right Hand. That debate is unlikely to die down any time soon. (Although in my opinion The Houston Kid reigns supreme). Now Crowell muddles the already muddied debate with The Outsider—another milestone in his ongoing career reinvention.

There's no question the last five years have found Crowell producing the strongest music of his career.

On 2001's The Houston Kid he revisited his past to make sense of how he's become who he is—and he made a powerful artistic and acoustic statement in the process.

If The Houston Kid was a remembrance of things past, then 2003's Fate's Right Hand was a reexamination of the present. From faith to art, self-actualization to self-acceptance, Crowell used the musical language to deal with a range of life's big questions.

And don't forget 2004's recording debut from The Notorious Cherry Bombs, which provided a lightweight, entertaining break from weightier pursuits.

The Outsider continues the presentist tradition of Fate's Right Hand, and can perhaps even be considered an extension of that dialogue.

Crowell clearly doesn't like the current state of affairs in America. He places primary blame on corporate fat cats ("The Obscenity Prayer (Give It to Me)") and their cronies in Washington ("Don't Get Me Started").

Those of us without money or power aren't necessarily spared culpability. "Ignorance Is the Enemy" invites us to seek forgiveness for our daily shortcomings. "The Outsider" depicts a people shunning God, who steadfastly refuses to abandon his flock.

Besides the finger-wagging, Crowell also delivers moments of transcendent beauty.

Consider "Beautiful Despair," which combines gentle strings with yearning lyrics typified by these opening lines:

Beautiful despair is hearing Dylan when you're drunk at 3 a.m.
Knowing that the chances are no matter what you'll never write like him

Equally remarkable are "Glasgow Girl" and Crowell's cover with Emmylou Harris of Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm," which brings together two restless souls with rugged voices.

Throughout The Outsider, Crowell delicately balances these strains of me-first greed and genuine goodness. And he provides a closing plea on "We Can't Turn Back Now":

Holy terror and toxic gas
Ain't got nothing on the leaves of grass
So pray for peace until you're hoarse
And maybe fear will run its course

This is what the album ultimately boils down: a choice between our current fractured way of life, highlighted by war, greed, and deceit, and a more harmonious existence guided by the forces of love, faith, art, and nature.

The Outsider is a heartfelt entreaty to choose beauty over barbarism, to work towards the simple pleasures that may be tougher to come by but are worth the sacrifice.

Buy The Outsider from Lone Star Music for only $14.99.

August 15, 2005