Bruce Springsteen's "Sad Eyes." As for original material, Coty's brand of contemporary country tends toward lukewarm love songs ("You're All That," "Can't Change My Love," the title track), while the Lone Star clichés of "Black Heart of Texas" and "South Texas Night" are equally squishy. Though the Maryland-raised Coty earlier showed promise with harder-hitting story songs--the album-ending "The Worst Way" provides the best example here--his sophomore effort too often pulls its punches. --Don McLeese  (less)

in the MCA trilogy, is an ever-appealing 10-song outing that makes Willis's lack of commercial success all the more mystifying. Posited midway between the Nashville outskirts territory of Lovett, Steve Earle, and the other '80s insurgents and the mid-'90s y'alternative school (Willis mixes easily with both camps), Bang Bang shows off the singer's powerful pipes and nose for excellent songs: tunes by Earle, Australian folk-rocker Paul Kelly, Jim Lauderdale, and Joe Ely are among the standout selections here. Bang Bang reflected where one vital stream of country music headed in the '90s; too bad more fans didn't catch the boat. --Steven Stolder  (less)

Bruce Springsteen's "Sad Eyes." As for original material, Coty's brand of contemporary country tends toward lukewarm love songs ("You're All That," "Can't Change My Love," the title track), while the Lone Star clichés of "Black Heart of Texas" and "South Texas Night" are equally squishy. Though the Maryland-raised Coty earlier showed promise with harder-hitting story songs--the album-ending "The Worst Way" provides the best example here--his sophomore effort too often pulls its punches. --Don McLeese  (less)

rock-influenced storm the likes of which hadn't been seen since Waylon Jennings' early outlaw period 15 years prior. Like Waylon, Earle toted a larger-than-life sound, badass attitude, and gritty country-rock sound with him into the studio. Fortunately, he also possessed a craftsman's gift for songwriting. This disc concentrates mostly on Earle's groundbreaking debut, GUITAR TOWN, and rightly so. That album's title tune, as well as the snarling ""Devil's Right Hand"" and ""Good Ol' Boy (Gettin' Tough)"" combine a knack for sharply turned wordplay with a real insight into the depths of the American underbelly. One of Earle's primary influences was Townes Van Zandt, a fact made plain by the narrative skills Earle displays on ""Copperhead Road."" To prove that Earle can sing a truck-driving song with the best of them, a rocking version of Dave Dudley's classic ""Six Days on the Road,"" originally used for a movie soundtrack, is also included. ESSENTIAL STEVE EARLE makes a fine starter kit, but once you try it, you'll want to continue on to further appreciate the riches in Earle's oeuvre.Entertainment Weekly (3/5/93, p.59) - ""...This compilation shows Earle moving from rockabilly to rock and captures the hostility and disillusionment of the nation's itinerant underbelly..."" - Rating: A+"  (less)