The Outsider (Sony, 2005)

After enjoying mainstream country success in the early Nineties with songs like �Lovin� All Night,� Rodney Crowell fell out of the limelight for several years. When he returned to recording, with 2001�s �The Houston Kid,� he had redefined himself as a singer-songwriter - a little bit country, a little bit rock and blues and all his own voice.

�The Outsider� continues in the same vein, with 11 great new songs, 10 written by Crowell. �Don�t Get Me Started� is Crowell�s statement song, railing against war and poverty, but in a stroke of brilliance, he chose to lighten the song�s heavy message by choosing as narrator a guy in a bar who may have had one too many beers.

�The Obscenity Prayer (Give It to Me)� is a fast-paced, sprawling song from the perspective of a man who�s eschewed introspection for materialism.

On the other hand, �Glasgow Girl� is a straight-ahead love song, with a pretty melody and gorgeous flamenco guitar solo from Randy Scruggs. Emmylou Harris lends her considerable talents to two songs here, including the gorgeous �Shelter From the Storm.�

Rodney Crowell has succeeded again with �The Outsider,� a collection of songs that make a point, yet are eminently listenable.