CD: Willie Nelson and the Cardinal, Songbird

# Americana

# Country

# Folk music

# Pop and rock

# Ryan Adams

# Willie Nelson

Country titan felled by mad axeman Ryan Adams

It looks good on paper: veteran country outlaw Willie gets a rock makeover from Ryan Adams and band. The record tells a different story; Willie plodding through pointless Fleetwood Mac and Grateful Dead covers or buried under an avalanche of crashing guitars on the specially-written-by-Ryan 'Blue Hotel'. For relief there is one new Nelson song, the poignant 'Back to Earth', some noisy remakes of his back catalogue, and a closing 'Amazing Grace' which combines comatose vocals and overblown arrangements. A messy car crash of a record.

Contributor

Neil Spencer

The GuardianTramp

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