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Product description (2CD) 2006 Deluxe reissue with 3 bonus tracks PLUS full 1998 concert recording with guests incl. Emmylou Harris & Steve Earle Amazon.com This 1998 Grammy-winning release–Lucinda Williams’s popular breakthrough–certainly merits the double-disc “deluxe edition” treatment. And it’s hard to find significant fault with anything here: the remastered version of the original album, the second-disc live performance from that year featuring guitarists Kenny Vaughn and Bo Ramsey, and the smattering of outtakes (highlighted by a slower, sadder version of “Out of Touch” than the one Williams ended up releasing). Yet the set misses a glorious opportunity to document one of the more laborious (and notorious) recording projects, one that saw Williams switch cities, studios, and producers three times before she was satisfied with the results. And while the results confirm her judgment, fans would likely find it fascinating to hear a lot more takes from the original Austin sessions (featuring accordion master Flaco Jimenez and keyboardist Ian McLagan) or outtakes from the Nashville sessions with producer Steve Earle, before Williams overhauled the project in Los Angeles with Springsteen keyboardist Roy Bittan. Such a set could have put a revelatory spotlight on the creative process that resulted in an album widely regarded as Williams’s masterpiece; instead, this release is more like souvenir snapshots. –Don McLeese
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