Sidetracks

Reviewed by:
David Peisner

Steve Earle is a show-off. This wide-ranging collection of B-sides, rarities, and covers from the alt-country icon contains 13 tracks that most artists would kick their grandmother in the teeth to call their own. If he had any modesty he’d keep them to himself—fortunately he doesn’t. Twangy jaunts like “Open Your Window” and “Me and the Eagle” may not break new ground for him, but they easily stand with his best work. His scorching, metallic take on Nirvana’s “Breed” is a ferocious jolt, and while covers of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ “My Uncle” and Dylan’s “My Back Pages” may be less surprising, they’re no less compelling. Someone somewhere will undoubtedly make the argument that the grizzled Earle shouldn’t have gotten within a half-mile of the reggae classic “Johnny Too Bad,” but that’s exactly what’s so great about Sidetracks: Freed from the responsibility of having to be the Steve Earle everyone expects him to be, he gets to be the Steve Earle nobody expected him to be. And it turns out that guy’s pretty fuckin’ good.

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