The Undercover Review

There is absolutely no reason in the world why this album should be good. Take one established actor, team him with a Grammy Award winning artist, throw in a few seasons session musos and you should expect disaster, right? Wrong! Billy Bob Thornton's debut album is compulsive listening from the moment you hit play.

Billy Bob certainly has a good name for a country artist. His credentials aren't much, noting at one stage of the career he had a short lived job as a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band roadie. Sometimes when you don't know the rules, you can make you own, and "Private Radio" certainly doesn't follow any rules.

On "Forever" Billy Bob sounds like a sober Tom Waits. (Let's not forget Waits has done this in reverse, successfully attempting an acting career).

Thornton sings a few songs about his wife, Lara Croft herself, Angelina Jolie. He sounds like Tom Petty on "Angelina". The personal (and very country) "Your Blue Shadow" is about the difficulty in physically being together with their work loads.

The balance of voices is remarkable on "The Starlight Lounge". Sharing vocals is Holly Lamar, the lady who wrote Faith Hill's "Breathe". Billy Bob wrote this one with Lamar and country superstar Dwight Yoakham (another singer who occasionally dabbles in acting).

"Smoking In Bed" is both kinds of music, country AND western. Billy Bob is having a great time.

Marty Stuart co-wrote most of the songs. He is a Grammy winner in his own rite. Billy Bob sets up "That Mountain" will a spoken word conversation with Marty before getting into it. Again, pure country.

"He Was A Friend Of Mine" is the albums only cover. It's an old Byrds song played on the same guitar used by The Byrds on the original recording. Billy Bob is back with his old Tom Petty inflections on this one.

"Private Radio" is the albums most tender moment, with Billy Bob singing about the voices inside ones head, your private radio.

The longest track on the album is the spoken word "Beauty At The Back Door". Clocking in at 9 minutes 39 seconds, the song tells the story of Billy Bob growing up in Arkansas.

The album finished with "Lost Country" a more trad country song. Every song has a story, every story needs an actor and Billy Bob seems to in the right place at the right time.

by Hector The Rock Dog