isn't just about lost love and the toils of specific lives, the (particularly within the traditions) spent some time dealing with sociopolitical issues on the side, primarily before the rise of . Here, has compiled a set of pieces related to a surprisingly large number of issues. Among them: shows, the mechanization of cotton farming, and its related exodus to the North, sharecropping, segregation, the Korean War, the influenza epidemic, the New Deal, civil rights movements, Chicago employment opportunities -- all are given a song or two here. The music quality is roughly equivalent to many of the recordings available, though the "big name" artists are largely absent from this one ( does make an appearance singing about sharecropping, however). The songs are deliberately focused on the issues more than the music, but the music can still carry its soul. This one probably won't be on many highest-sales lists in the , but it's both historically important and musically enjoyable. ~ Adam Greenberg