Anodyne [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]

Performer: Uncle Tupelo
Artist: Doug Sahm
Engineer: Tim Powell; Brian Paulson
Producer: Brian Paulson
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Uncle Tupelo: Jay Farrar (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Jeff Tweedy (vocals, guitar, bass); Ken Coomer (drums). Additional personnel: Doug Sahm (vocals, guitar); Max Johnston (lap steel guitar, banjo, dobro, fiddle); John Stirratt (guitar, bass); Lloyd Maines (pedal steel guitar). Recorded at Cedar Creek Recording, Austin, Texas in between May and June 1993. Personnel: Jay Farrar (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Jeff Tweedy (vocals, guitar, background vocals); Doug Sahm, Joe Ely (vocals, guitar); John Stirratt, Brian Henneman (guitar); Max Johnston (lap steel guitar, dobro, banjo, fiddle); Ken Coomer (drums). Audio Mixer: Brian Paulson. Audio Remasterers: Dan Hersch; Bill Inglot. Liner Note Author: Richard Byrne. Recording information: Cedar Creek recording, Austin, TX (05/??/1993-10/15/1993); Emerald Sound, Nashville, TN (05/??/1993-10/15/1993); Sixteenth Avenue Sound (05/??/1993-10/15/1993); Vic Theater, Chicago, IL (05/??/1993-10/15/1993). Photographer: Dan Corrigan. Recorded live in the studio amid mounting tension between singer/songwriters Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, ANODYNE proved to be Uncle Tupelo's last and finest album. These final sessions find Farrar and Tweedy crafting a seamless mesh of country, folk and rock that both encompasses and exceeds the range of previous albums. With the straight-up country of "Acuff-Rose" (a tribute to the famed songwriting duo), and the folky "New Madrid," Tupelo displays the traditional leanings found on MARCH 16-20, 1992, while both the bass-heavy "The Long Cut" and the barnstorming "Chickamauga" broaden the punk-tinged sound of NO DEPRESSION and STILL FEEL GONE. While ANODYNE also features a raucous collaboration with the late Doug Sahm on "Give Back the Key to My Heart," its most transcendent moments are the world-weary "Slate" and the sublime title track, one of the most beautifully bittersweet songs penned since Neil Young's "Helpless." Although ANODYNE proved to be the end of the line for Uncle Tupelo, it opened up more expansive roads for Farrar and Tweedy, who would go on separately to make such superb albums as Son Volt's TRACE and Wilco's SUMMER TEETH respectively. Uncle Tupelo never struck a finer balance between rock and country than on Anodyne, their major-label debut and parting shot. For all of the ill will undoubtedly simmering throughout these sessions, Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy have never before been more attuned to each other musically; where earlier records often found the band's twin forces moving in opposing directions, Anodyne bears the full fruits of their shared vision. Recorded live in the studio, the album encompasses and reinterprets not only country-rock (evidenced by the group's pairing with Doug Sahm on his "Give Back the Key to My Heart"), but also traditional country (the tribute to the songwriting legacy of "Acuff-Rose"), rock (the churning "The Long Cut," "Chickamauga"), and folk ("New Madrid," "Steal the Crumbs"), the band's reach never once exceeding its grasp. [The 2003 reissue of Anodyne on Rhino adds five bonus tracks: three previously unreleased tracks and two live songs that were only available on a promo-only disc issued in 1994 called The Long Cut + Five Live. The three studio cuts are a mixed bag. "Stay True" is a fairly tuneless hard rock tune penned by Jay Farrar that features thundering riffs and ham-handed soloing, "Wherever" is a heartbroken and lovely ballad written by Jeff Tweedy that easily could have fit on the album proper, and "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" is a rollicking stab at one of Waylon Jennings' best tunes with Joe Ely joining in on vocals and guitar. The two live cuts -- a raw take on the truck driver's anthem "Truck Drivin' Man" and a long workout on Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q" -- are fun and full of energy. Too bad Rhino didn't include the other three songs that were on the The Long Cut + Five Live. Still, with the comprehensive liner notes, improved sounds, and mostly worthwhile bonus tracks, this is a great document for fans of the band.] ~ Jason Ankeny

Rolling Stone (12/9/93, p.73) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "...On ANODYNE, Uncle Tupelo's fourth album (and first for a major label), the trio continues making contemporary-sounding country rock for the perplexed generation..." Spin (11/93, p.136) - Highly Recommended - "...[ANODYNE] doesn't feel like a shrine to some black-and-white past...the pleasures of ANODYNE aren't in the words: they're in the cracks between guitar notes and the grain of voices..." Q (9/00, p.135) - Included in Q's "Best Alt.Country Albums Of All Time". Q (11/93, p.138) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Uncle Tupelo need only shed some of that Neil Young obsession to take the next step..." Uncut (6/03, p.113) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...This reissue of their 1993 swan song still sounds spectacular....This record is studded with rare booty..." Melody Maker (11/6/93, p.31) - "...ANODYNE is country music as open emotional wound....floods the senses like a visitation from an eclipse..." Village Voice (3/1/94, p.5) - Ranked #28 in the Village Voice's 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. NME (Magazine) (10/16/93, p.31) - 9 - Excellent Plus - "...Uncle Tupelo have crafted a record to rank with the country rock greats..."

Uncle Tupelo were the quintessential alt-country band. The Illinois quartet took the rust-belt angst that fueled bands like the Replacements and Husker Du and infused it with the high-lonesome twang of classic country. Although the band was together for less than a decade, they left a supreme legacy, with founding members Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy going on to major careers of their own following the band's demise--Farrar as a solo artists and also with his band Son Volt; and Tweedy as the leader of Wilco, arguably the most important American band of the late-20th/early-21st century.

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