Steve Earle
Jerusalem
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Steve Earle is one of the most consistent and controversial songwriters around. His new album, Jerusalem, started stirring up trouble months ago with the lead single, "John Walker's Blues." Some alleged that this song is unpatriotic and celebrates the deeds of John Walker Lindh, the young American man who trained with Taliban forces in Afghanistan and was recently sentenced to twenty years in prison. This is the kind of thing Steve Earle does best: he is a Nashville outsider, a country music outlaw who has never been afraid to express his liberal views and opinions and really make the most of the songwriting medium.

And "John Walker's Blues" is not just one of Earle's best songs, but it is also one of the top singles of the year. Earle attempts to get inside the psyche of someone in Walker's situation; "I'm just an American boy—raised on MTV / And I've seen all those kids in soda pop ads / But none of 'em looked like me," Earle sings from Walker's perspective. He goes on to sing, "And the first thing that made sense was the word of Mohammed, peace be upon him." This is great songwriting: daring, compelling, and original. The song is driven by the Stones-esque country-rock style that has become Earle's signature sound. The loud and rough guitar noise backed by a big, steady beat is the perfect palette for Earle's low growl. A true classic, "John Walker's Blues," which also contains Earle singing a bit in Arabic and a sample of authentic Arab singing in the outro, is the most complete expression of Earle's sonic and lyrical vision on Jerusalem.

Elsewhere, Jerusalem shows itself to be yet another very good Steve Earle album, as it picks up on the more rock and roll aspects of his previous effort, 2000's Transcendental Blues. Where that record was rowdy and celebratory though, Jerusalem is darker and more introspective. The opening song, "Ashes to Ashes," is downright creepy, as Earle's distorted vocals intone the haunting chorus, "Ashes to ashes / Dust to dust." "Amerika v. 6.0 (The Best We Can Do)" discusses all sorts of contemporary American corruption and reminds listeners about the values America was once founded on and how the newest version of this country has strayed from that original vision. Again, this song could be misinterpreted to be anti-American, but Earle just wants to inform and alert people to what is happening. Earle is such an ace songwriter because he actually wants to and does make music that is timely, significant, and needs to be heard.

Aside from the R&B-esque goof "Conspiracy Theory," Jerusalem is an excellent country rock album. Earle does not deviate into Celtic or Bluegrass directions as he did on past releases, but the point of Jerusalem is to make a stripped down rock record, showcasing the lyrics and ideas above everything else. This is the post-September 11 album that people need to hear, the one that puts a lot of questions in perspective and tackles things that many people consider but are too afraid to say. Whether you agree with Earle or not, he is so articulate and intelligent in his songwriting that you simply need to respect and listen to him, and Jerusalem is a great place to start.

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