In the mid 80’s Alternative Country became a buzz word and catch phrase for music that had it’s inspiration and influence rooted in rock n roll, rural attitude and turned up and turned on musicians. Personally it brought me back to the earlier work of Bob Dylan, The Band, The Byrds and the first four albums by The Eagles. I recognized it again when I first heard Blue Rodeo, Wilco, Lucinda Williams and The Jayhawks.
At the root of all these recordings are songs of substance. This 20 song compilation is a dandy overseen by one of the band’s main songwriters Gary Louris.
There are 10 tracks from the band’s classic Americana work that yielded the albums Blue Earth, Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow The Green Grass.
However what becomes apparent on this cd is that the period from 1996 to 2002 where Louris took over the lead role with other talented players is in fact a solid and criminally overlooked piece of the band’s recorded legacy.
As of this writing co-leaders Gary Louris and Mark Olsen have been back together doing some acoustic shows . For Canadians fans of Blue Rodeo this is a must have collection.
