Dwight grabs your attention from the opening Same fool and holds it until the closing Maybe you like it maybe you don't, singing his way through a selection of songs that are incredibly varied yet still sit comfortably together. Dwight's influences are many and varied but fans of Buck Owens, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley will all hear echoes of their music in this album. Of course, Dwight's hillbilly vocal style combined with Pete Anderson's brilliant producing make his music unmistakeable for any other.

Dwight makes a rare incursion into bluegrass territory on Traveller's lantern, on which Ralph Stanley plays banjo. As Dwight had already appeared as a guest on Ralph's Clinch mountain country album, this was no surprise. Judged on this effort, it would be great to hear Dwight do a whole bluegrass album.

Dwight has recorded many outstanding albums (and one or two duds) but this is certainly one of the best albums Dwight has ever recorded and my may well be the best of the lot.

With today's country music on a hell bound train to mediocity, one of it's new-frontier heroes of ten years past has heard enough. Once proclaimed along with Randy Travis and George Strait as the "big three" country artists to carry America's art form to a brighter day, Dwight is the first of the triumvirate to step back to the future with an album that will bring some distinction to the airwaves.

Supported by producer Pete Anderson's best work to date, Dwight delivers a totally satisfying package with conviction of the heart. Dwight knows he's recorded a winner, you can hear the confidence in every take. The new material is so good, it's even able to elevate his old, tired catalogue to a new enjoyment level.

No doubt, the lure of plentiful bounty that can be made in country-western music has produced a generation of far too many sound-alike, sing-alikes. Today, it isn't hard finding lyrics less memorable than an instruction manual on how to clean your Harvester combine.

Enter Dwight Yoakam, a cowboy from rural Los Angeles, with a self-determined passion not to let a good thing die. Just as it was a decade ago, it's not going to be easy convincing country radio that their playlist is "a long way (from) home." Although the new album may bring brief flashbacks to a bygone George Jones era, in a short while you'll be turning up the volume and reveling in the rebirth of country music for the New Millenium.

The music and the vintage Yoakam lyrical phrasing are there for the taking. These are the type of country songs that showcase a driving instrumentation and a revealing of sorrow with an attitude.

I can't believe how overlooked this album is in his catalog. Dwight and Pete Anderson get all due respect from me whenever they put someting on platter. Great job, guys!