Willie Nelson: The Great Divide

An outlaw with a taciturn demeanor, an idol of country purists who's still happy to play American pop standards or record a duet with Julio Iglesias, a singer with a limited range that sounds equally appropriate in spare, acoustic settings and in lush productions: With all these contradictions, is it any wonder that Willie Nelson remains a misfit As such, he ought to fit right in at Lost Highway, the alt-leaning, major-sponsored country label that Lucinda Williams and the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack call home. Unfortunately, the songs on The Great Divide, Nelson's highly touted Lost Highway debut, are largely drained of the personality his new label should have allowed him to indulge. Instead, the album comes closely modeled on Carlos Santana's Supernatural, smoothing out the rough spots of Nelson's craft, bringing in an array of broadly appealing duet partners, and burying it all in bland production. Matchbox Twenty singer and Supernatural vet Rob Thomas even pens three songs and guests on one. At least he's a better partner than Lee Ann Womack or Brian McKnight, boring singers who demonstrate as much chemistry with Nelson as one of the "duet" participants on Frank Sinatra's final albums. Even the seemingly natural pairing with Kid Rock is hamstrung by the third-rate material of "Last Stand In Open Country," a reprise of gunslinger clichés that Nelson's classic Red Headed Stranger album ought to have put to rest decades ago. Just a snippet of the Cyndi Lauper cover "Time After Time" exemplifies everything wrong here. A fine song and a natural choice for Nelson, it's defeated by the busiest production this side of 1988. (If a track already has a prominently featured synthesizer and a couple of fuzzy guitars, does it really need gospel-style backing vocals) Only the title number, which Nelson co-wrote, serves as a reminder of his craft. Otherwise, The Great Divide works best as an example of what becomes a legend least.