Designed as a companion to the Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit Outlaws & Armadillos: Country's Roaring '70s, this double-disc set chronicles the heyday of the outsider country movement that was called Outlaw Country. Like the exhibit, the double-disc set takes pains to prove how limiting the term Outlaw Country is, deconstructing the macho myths and expanding the map so it's not concentrated solely in Texas. Naturally, the Lone Star State still has a heavy presence with its maverick singer/songwriters and cowboy poets, but the compilers are savvy enough to underscore how many of the acts called Outlaw were either musicians who never quite fit into the confines of Nashville or long-haired hippies who were just a bit too redneck for rock. No matter the state or style or origin, the artists featured on
Outlaws & Armadillos: Country's Roaring '70s imagined a funky, funny, soulful America united by a love of song and gritty grooves. By casting their net wide, the compilers have not only wound up with a compilation that is a more accurate historical document, but a richer listening experience than a disc devoted just to
Waylon Jennings and
Willie Nelson…and it's a hell of a lot more fun, too. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine