3 Pears cover

3 Pears

Released

Dwight Yoakam’s 18th studio album was his first in five years, and his most adventurous and stylistically wide-ranging since 1995’s Gone. He worked with Kid Rock on the literally sha-la-la-ing opening track, “Take Hold of My Hand,” and two other songs, “A Heart Like Mine” and “Missing Heart,” were produced by Beck. The album includes a raucous cowpunk version of the 1950s honky-tonk anthem “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke” that’s propelled by jackhammer piano and a thundering backbeat; the weird and psychedelic “Waterfall”; the Tom Petty-ish “Long Way to Go”; and the title track, which attains an almost Bruce Springsteen-esque grandeur. This is the album to listen to if you think Dwight Yoakam is “just” a country singer — he’s absolutely that, and the Bakersfield sound still pops up here and there, but there’s an astonishing diversity here, and not a single false note.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Fly cover

Fly

Dixie Chicks
This Highway cover

This Highway

The 18 Wheelers, Zephaniah OHora
The Valley cover

The Valley

Charley Crockett
Life Journey cover

Life Journey

Leon Russell
On His Way cover

On His Way

Johnny Paycheck
Annie Up cover

Annie Up

Pistol Annies
Barn cover

Barn

Crazy Horse, Neil Young
Solid Gold Sounds cover

Solid Gold Sounds

Kendell Marvel
Find a Light cover

Find a Light

Blackberry Smoke