RIYL: Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings
Like his old buddy Johnny Cash before him, Kris Kristofferson’s autumn years are seeing a beautiful, stripped-back recording renaissance. Following up 2006’s This Old Road with that album’s producer, Don Was, Kris has delivered a dozen mostly drum-free tunes (the exceptions being “Let the Walls Come Down” and his cool tribute to Cash, “Good Morning John”) with the aid of acoustic guitar, harmonica, and not a heck of a lot else, giving the feel of a private living room performance. In fact, at the beginning of the song Kris wrote for his kids, “From Here to Forever,” you can hear his breaths so clearly, the effect is almost as if Kris is breathing right in your ear. While most of the record sticks close to family, friends, love and loss, the cherry on top of Closer to the Bone is “the first whole song” Kris ever wrote, at age 11, called “I Hate Your Ugly Face.” It’s every bit as funny as the title would suggest, and an eerily prescient indicator of all the greatness that was soon to come. (New West 2009)
We’re admittedly late with this one (this was released in June), but better late than never when discussing the only album that came remotely close to challenging Thriller on the album charts in the early ’80s. Joe Elliott may make fun of Nick Rhodes for playing keyboards with only two fingers on those VH-1 “I Love the ’80s” shows, but as great as Pyromania is, it was Def Leppard’s ability to appeal to the fairer sex – a rarity for metal acts – that launched them into the stratosphere, and much like Rhodes and his mates in Duran Duran, Def Leppard’s music videos went a long way towards making that happen. (Come on, look at those pictures again of Joe Elliott in the sleeveless Union Jack shirt and his perfect hair. Dude’s the world’s first metrosexual.) Guys loved Def Leppard too because, let’s face it, they kicked ass. It was polished, obsessively overproduced ass, but ass just the same. There isn’t a band alive that wouldn’t claim “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages” and “Foolin'” for themselves. The album tracks, namely “Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop),” “Stagefright” and “Too Late for Love,” were just as good. 
Although he first emerged from Christian pop realms, Derek Webb has never found himself constrained by either dogma or dictates, especially as they apply to his own soft rock excursions and those that he pursues with his talented wife, singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken. However, anyone familiar with his music up until now might be somewhat confounded by Webb’s current switch in sound. Webb’s always aimed for accessibility, but here he deviates from that tact, opting instead for an atmospheric motif, some techno trappings and hip-hop beats to maintain his muse. On first listen, it sounds like an attempt to substitute dance club fare for the thoughtful approach that distinguished his previous efforts and indeed, Webb keeps things moving at a kinetic pace. However, while the undulating ambiance sometimes seems distracting, additional listens reveal some subtle nuances. In fact, it’s those moments of mellow respite – the gentle ballads “The State,” “Heaven” and “American Flag Umbrella” in particular – that make Stockholm Syndrome easier to abide. 