northern New Mexico, its soundtrack sounds decidedly Lone Star. With famous Texans like Willie Nelson and the matchless yodeler Don Walser crooning some dusty charmers and a couple of country standards like "San Antonio Rose" and "Why Don't You Love Me" thrown in for good measure, the overall mood is very barbecue-friendly. Only Beck, who duets with Nelson on "Drivin' Nails in My Coffin" sounds a bit out of place here, his nasal drawl in curious contrast to Nelson's unmistakable whinny. Carter Burwell's score is standard-issue "epic" in its long gazes that suggest the largeness of both the West and the men's souls who inhabit it, but it gains an edge with its austere cadences and Mexican trumpet and guitar flourishes. --Lois Maffeo  (less)

the moment in time when "country" music suddenly went cosmopolitan, paving the way for Garth Brooks. Johnny Lee's "Lookin' for Love" was one of the decade's biggest singles, and this album briefly made a star of Mickey Gilley (whose Texas club provided a home for that alpha bull). Fans of Bob Seger, Jimmy Buffet, the Eagles, Dan Fogelberg, and Bonnie Raitt may want this collection for the tunes they lack elsewhere. And it sure recalls an era. But please don't call it "country." --Bill Holdship  (less)

features songs from all-time greats The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Allman Brothers Band, Roy Buchanan and Badfinger along with a collaboration between Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, Van Morrison, and The Band. Add cult faves The Human Beinz, current South Boston punkers Dropkick Murphys, an R&B gem from LaVern Baker, a country- pop selection from the immortal Patsy Cline, and a pair of selections from Grammy® Award-winning score composer Howard Shore and The Departed's soundtrack album promises to be as widely popular as the film.  (less)

heart in mind with a stylistic array of early 1970s sounds supported by Trevor Rabin's orchestral score (one seven-minute excerpt, "Titans Spirit," finishes things off here). Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's "Express Yourself" is, perhaps, the greatest surprise, while oddball favorites such as Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky," Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," and Eric Burdon and War's "Spill the Wine" match up with country star Buck Owens's "Act Naturally." Covers include a fiery version of Sly Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher" and Leon Russell's laid-back barrelhouse-piano take on the doomsday anthem "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." Cat Stevens's "Peace Train" rolls into the station in its original version. Creedence Clearwater ...  (less)

ever written, the soundtrack is equally sentimental--16 tracks that evoke wistful days spent staring out of windows pining for lost love. Edwin McCain delivers Diane Warren's surprisingly modest "I Could Not Ask for More," a song written specifically for the movie. Sheryl Crow and Sarah McLachlan turn soft and spooky with their whispery "Carolina" and "I Love You," respectively. Sinéad Lohan and Beth Nielsen Chapman backlight their middle-of-the-road sensibilities with dance beats. Hootie & the Blowfish's "Only Lonely" is far closer to country music (Glen Campbell-style) than country artist Faith Hill's "Let Me Let Go." Gabriel Yared contributes the instrumental title track as well as two other pieces of overswelling movie music. Redefines the term mellow . --Rob O'Co...  (less)

song-score. His previously unreleased ballad "My Little Girl" successfully evokes previous McGraw hits, and he's shrewdly woven it into a collection that echoes the story's themes via the sultry R&B-country fusion of Natasha Bedingfield's "Wild Horses"; a spare, haunting "Rodeo Road" by Holly Williams (granddaughter of Hank Sr.); and the quiet introspection of Gemma Hayes's opening "4:35 A.M." Becki Ryan's "Alive" and "The Things We Don't" by Watertown give the collection a welcome double-shot of country-pop effusiveness, and Donovan's vintage "Catch the Wind" seasons it with timeless folk charm, while McGraw turns his Dancehall Doctors touring band loose to tear up "The Fireman" with live roadhouse swagger. This is a collection that sk...  (less)

response: Shania Twain, Joss Stone, LeAnn Rimes, Macy Gray, Indigo Girls, k.d. lang, and more have each packed the collection with previously-unreleased music. With half of the disc recently-written songs and half covers of old classics, the originals ultimately prove to be the highlight. Shania Twain's "Shoes" is a future line-dancin' classic, analogizing men to shoes ("a girl can't never have too many of 'em"). Joss Stone's "Treat Me Right" is nothing short of sexy, soul perfection, while SheDaisy's performance of the Jann Arden -penned "God Bless the American Housewife" kicks things off in a dark country style. The "who's that girl with the voice?" award goes to Idina Menzel ( Rent , Wicked ) for her powerhouse performance of ...  (less)

Opening the album is Harry McClintock's 1928 recording of "The Big Rock Candy Mountain," which highlighted the O Brother film, followed by a couple of traditional classics from country's seminal artists--Jimmie Rodgers's "In the Jailhouse Now" and the Carter Family's "Keep on the Sunny Side"--that were revived by others on the hit soundtrack. Five tracks proceed to detail the musical progression of Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass Music, while other staples include the Prairie Brothers' romp through "Shady Grove" and the close harmonies of the Morris Brothers (reminiscent of the better-known Louvin Brothers) on "Salty Dog Blues." Balancing the spiritual uplift of some of the material, the collec...  (less)

van with his wife and a few journeyman players and gigged at university student unions for what amounted to spare change. Of course, by 1976 they were one of the biggest draws in rock, having the last laugh--if not necessarily the final word. Gathering the cream of their recorded output on a generous double-disc sampler-cum-TV-special-soundtrack seemed a promising effort at historical revisionism, but Wingspan itself is a distinct misnomer: fully 17 of the 40 tracks here hail from various pre- and post-Wings McCartney solo albums. Completely overlooked are unheralded B-sides such as "Oh Woman, Oh Why," "Little Woman Love," "Country Dreamer," "The Mess," "Walking in the Park with Eloise," "Sally G," and "Girl's School"--some of M...  (less)