The Jayhawks

After a now out-of-print 1986 debut, the Minneapolis country rockers the Jayhawks first gained notice with 1989's Blue Earth. The album's production values are shoddy, but the band's core appeal is clear. In songs like "Dead End Angel" and "The Baltimore Sun," you can hear the soulful twang and singer Mark Olson's mournful tenor -- as well as his perfect harmonies with guitarist Gary Louris -- that first earned the comparisons with cult hero Gram Parsons.

Landing on a major label to work with big-league producer George Drakoulias (Black Crowes, Tom Petty) gave the Jayhawks the added push they needed to make a truly remarkable album. Hollywood Town Hall furthers the Parsons influence but tempers it with a strong Neil Young-styled roots-rock edge that, with the record's crisp and bright production, nearly jumps off the disc. Hollywood stands out because of its timeless, impeccably crafted songs. From the righteous rock of "Waiting for the Sun" and "Settled Down Like Rain" to the swooning ballad "Take Me With You (When You Go)," there's not a weak track among the lot.

By comparison, the poppier Tomorrow the Green Grass seems more lightweight, with the group indulging in the kind of bubblegum roots-rock hybrid that made Grand Funk Railroad stars (even covering GFR's "Bad Time"). However, it stands up extremely well with time, particularly tracks like the soaring "Blue," string-adorned "Nothing Left to Borrow," and prophetic "Miss Williams' Guitar" (a tribute to Olson's future wife Victoria Williams). Green Grass' ability to embrace a more immediately accessible sound without forsaking its country-rock approach sounds like real progress for a band that seemed still on the rise.

Olson's departure from the Jayhawks dashed any hopes of further refining the band's greatest strength -- the songwriting and harmonic collaboration between him and Louris. For better or worse, Louris decided to forge ahead as lead singer and primary songwriter, and Sound of Lies, the band's first release without Olson, marks a substantial shift in the Jayhawks' sound. While the opener, "The Man Who Loved Life," doesn't stray far from the group's established sound -- and ironically, neither does "Bottomless Cup," written by new member Tim O'Reagan -- elsewhere the group embraces more of a straight rock sound, whether with the driving, sludgy riffs of "Think About It," the Beatlesy arpeggios of "Trouble," or the full-on power pop of "Big Star." While Sound of Lies' best tracks suggest the viability of a post-Olson Jayhawks, the album sounds too much like the work of a band in search of itself to fully succeed.

By Smile, audaciously named after the Beach Boys' abandoned epic, the Jayhawks once again secure their footing, arriving at a more consistent, unabashedly pop sound that echoes the classic album-oriented radio sound of the '70s. While "What Led Me to This Town" provides a fading glimpse of the Jayhawks' earlier sound, tracks like "Smile," "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," and "(In My) Wildest Dreams" sound much more like Big Star, Tom Petty, and E.L.O. than Parsons or Young. And it's nearly impossible to recognize "Somewhere in Ohio" and "Queen of the World" as the band that brought us Hollywood Town Hall. No matter, Smile shows the Jayhawks having once again evolved to a comfortable place where they can continue to create strong, consistent records.

And just when it seemed the Jayhawks' evolution was linear, the group circled around and offered Rainy Day Music, a surprising banjo-and-slide-guitar-accented return to its country-rocking roots. More than any disavowal of the group's more recent pop direction, the record represents an assimilation of earlier and later styles into a consistently tuneful, expertly harmonized set of songs steeped in classic-rock idioms. Eleven years after its career record and seven years after the departure of its frontman, the Jayhawks -- stripped down to an intimate trio -- confound expectations in creating a record that ranks among its best and suggests an endurance well beyond expectations. (RONI SARIG) From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide