Steve Earle Album: “Shut Up And Die Like An Aviator”

If Steve Earle was down and out due to substance abuse and personal problems that even he admits to, you can't tell it from this CD. The man rocks, the man moves you to tears on the ballads and the man provides an entertaning 90 minutes doing so. "Copperhead Road", "Billy Austin","Someday" and "Guitar Town" sound fresh and exciting in the concert context.There's not a dud on the CD. The Dukes just wail all the way through too. IF Steve was this good back then, at his lowest point, just imagine what his shows are like now, since his triumphant return to form. Say, let's have another live one Steve.Your fans deserve it and more importantly, so do you.

Recorded during a Canadian tour of the early 90's, this appears to be a fan's dream: a greatest hits package recorded live with Earle and the experienced Dukes performing at their peak-Earle, however, was in the depths of his drug addiction during this tour, so the performances are restless at best. A live reference to an incident in Ottawa points to Earle's growing spirit of social conscienceness. His stellar writing rescues this project, with new tour staples such as the anti-death penalty anthem "Billy Austin," the auto-biographical "I'm The Other Kind," and "West Nashville Boogie," (all from "The Hard Way") providing shining moments. A teasing "Guitar Town" is tell-tale: there are only shreds remaining of the exhuberant 27-year-old laureate who took the country and rock communities by storm only 4 years earlier. Most frightening is a transcending, gut-level version of Jimmy Rogers' "Blue Yodel #9," showing that Earle remembers from whenst he came, but leaving the listener wondering where Earle is going. Or if he'll survive the journey.

Steve Earle just hit radio when I was a DJ 15 years ago, and his sound was so cool I got hooked. I play this CD to friends and just about everybody who has listened to it owns it now. If 'She's about a mover' doesn't get you off your chair, you have got to be dead.

A very good live record. To me, the best track, by far, is "West Nashville Boogie." It is the best blues song by a white artist that I have ever heard. When he sings "I got a razor in my pocket . . ." I always get goosebumps. That moment alone is worth the price of the album.

There is a generous amount of music--over 74 minutes which is a lot for the typical Steve Earle CD but you can find better renditions of these songs on his other CDs. Get Guitar Town and Copperhead Road if you want to hear most of these songs done in a studio. Also, I had eagerly anticipated hearing Earle's version of Dead Flowers but it isn't nearly as good as the original by The Stones.