T Bone Burnett: Tooth Of Crime : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The best song on T Bone's relentlessly noir new album is "Kill Zone," a lyrical, Roy Orbison-style ballad — which Orbison himself co-wrote right before his death in 1988. That fact only hints at the oddity of this collection: Burnett, best known as producer to the stars (Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, John Mellencamp) and curator of soundtracks (The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?), started writing these songs years ago for a revamped production of Sam Shepard's 1972 play of the same name, about a washed-up rock star. Only bits were used, and Burnett didn't finish the songs until recently.

The bluesy result bristles with echoing spy-movie guitars, clattering layers of percussion and trippy, effects-altered vocals — Burnett pushes his trademark three-dimensional production into an almost hallucinatory vividness. And the lyrics are nearly as evocative, with Burnett issuing detective-novel threats ("I can stir you like a Bloody Mary") and spinning dystopian sci-fi fantasies ("I was conceived in a behavior station, light-years from civilization"). But too often, on songs such as the droney "Dope Island" (a duet with ex Sam Phillips), Burnett's melodies veer between off-puttingly strange and nonexistent. Where's Roy when you need him?

BRIAN HIATT

(Posted: May 15, 2008)

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4of 5 Stars

How many people can say they bought T-Bone's EP Trap Door on vinyl on it's original release in 1982? And did so while attending college (TCU) in his home stomping grounds of Fort Worth? I've been a long-time fan of his work, even through its preachiest points. This album shows why Mr. Burnett is such a successful and sought-after producer. Truly God is in the details, and I think he does an exceptional job of pulling out all the tricks in his producer's bag to create compelling soundscapes on every track, never overusing any one. I liked the Beatle-esque Kill Zone the best. Really nice stuff.

Jun 5, 2008 07:46:59

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