Audio CD review:
Jr. Robert Earl Keen - Farm Fresh Onions

Jr. Robert Earl Keen - Farm Fresh Onions

Band: Jr. Robert Earl Keen Title: Farm Fresh Onions Rating: Release Date: 07 October, 2003 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Furnace Fan 2: All I Have Is Today 3: Out Here In The Middle 4: Train Trek 5: Farm Fresh Onions 6: Floppy Shoes 7: Gone On 8: So Sorry Blues 9: Beats The Devil 10: These Years 11: Famous Words 12: Let The Music Play

Editoral Review It opens well enough, moving from the rib-sticking roots-rock of "Furnace Fan" to the tuneful jangle of "All I Have Is Today" and on to the chugging "Train Trek. The tenth album in a career that began with No Kinda Dancer way back in 1984, Farm Fresh Onions is a milestone disc for Robert Earl Keen--but not a particularly special effort from the veteran Texas songwriter. " But then Keen loses his focus: The title cut starts out as a talking blues but devolves into an awkward jam; "Floppy Shoes" and "So Sorry" are boozy, self-conscious takes on funk and slow-burning blues, respectively. The Neil Young-ish rocker "Beats the Devil," narrative ballad "These Years," and closing country weeper "Let the Music Play" help Keen bounce back by disc's end, but it's never a good sign when an artist like this--that is, one better recognized as a songwriter than a performer--puts out a disc on which the single best song is a cover. Here, it's Keen's duet with Shawn Colvin on James McMurtry's "Out Here in the Middle" that truly takes the cake. --Anders Smith Lindall .. You can see a complete list of all Jr. Robert Earl Keen discography, or go back to the Jr. Robert Earl Keen tabs