Steve Earle - Copperhead Road (CD)

All Music Guide

Steve Earle always played hard country music with the swagger of a rock roll star, so it made sense that he would take a detour out of Nashville, both literally and figuratively. On Copperhead Road, Earle opted to record in Memphis and veered away from mainstream country in several directions at once -- into potent hard rock (most notably on the superb title song, which became his first rock radio hit), as well as Irish folk (with The Pogues backing Earle on "Johnny Come Lately"), and even bluegrass (virtuoso acoustic pickers Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas sit in on "Nothing But a Child"). If Copperhead Road lacked a bit of the tight focus of his acclaimed debut Guitar Town, it had energy, firepower, and smart-ass humor to spare (along with Earle's always-superb songs), and it made clear that Steve Earle had the stuff to be a contender in rock roll, if that was what he wanted.

- Mark Deming, All Music Guide