The Great Divide
Lost Highway
Call it 'Slick Willie', call it 'Willie Aid II', but whatever you do, don't call it a Willie Nelson album. The dozen, mostly uplifting tracks here boast the usual cast of collaboration suspects (Rob Thomas, Bonnie Rait, Sheryl Crow, Bernie Taupin) and throw some of the younger stars of the recording world into the mix (Kid Rock, Lee Ann Womack, Brian McKnight).
It is a formula that handed Carlos Santana the biggest pay-day of his career with 2000's multi-platinum smash Supernatural. But while Santana bridged cultural, musical and generational gaps with some inspired duets, Nelson comes across ill at ease with the shiny, adult-contemporary format and only fires when left to his own devices.
Consequently, his sparse and introspective take on Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) and the self-penned title track emerge as the stand-outs.
Willie's output can never be declared a total disaster but this won't be remembered as one of his finer expeditions, despite his splendidly unvarnished voice hitting its best form in years.
