Two records into his career, was riding a creative high with his eclectic Southwest mix, that stretches from Amarillo, Lubbock and Austin, east to Louisiana. Produced by maven, ( , ) and released in 1979, came with high expectations. However, with all of the elements seemingly in place, including his crack band and a handful of contributions from pal never quite achieves the lofty standard set by its predecessors. , who has been 's favorite source for outside tunes, picks up right where the classic left off, delivering the album's best songs, but only the loser's lament, truly stands out among 's originals. Furthermore, while , who possesses a commanding if somewhat limited voice, may be able to redeem the otherwise unspectacular of yet he fails to do the same for his , which don't really stay with you like his earlier or And while and his band are as good as ever, they suffer at times from 's production, which lacks the same spark and crispness that brought to the previous two recordings. Still, while may suffer in comparison to 's extraordinary past work, it holds up well enough alongside the rest of his catalog. ~ Brett Hartenbach