Badlands - Ballads Of The Lakota

From his earliest days as a picking prodigy with bluegrass greats Flatt & Scruggs, Marty Stuart has spent a lifetime learning from the very best. It was his close friend and mentor, American musical icon Johnny Cash, who introduced Stuart to the ancient culture and modern tragedy of the Sioux Indians. The proud history Stuart absorbed and the deep friendships he has formed over the years within the tribe come vividly to life on Badlands, Stuart's stirring musical tribute to Native America. But don't be fooled; Badlands is no dry history lesson. Alternately reverent, reflective and rocking, Badlands celebrates Native American culture as only Stuart could.Working with his best band ever - guitarist Kenny Vaughan, bassist Brian Glenn, and drummer Harry Stinson, collectively known as the Fabulous Superlatives - Stuart captures all the breadth, beauty, and sadness of Indian life through this incredible set of heartfelt songs. Universal. 2005. With this concept album, Marty Stuart pays tribute to the Sioux culture of what is now South Dakota and to the inspiration of Johnny Cash, whose band once included Stuart and who also developed a strong affinity for American Indian traditions. Though it's hard to fault Badlands' good intentions and pointed social commentary, much of it is stronger thematically than musically. Spoken-word interludes that provide transitions might not bear repeated listenings, while the wordless "Hotchkiss Gunner's Lament" (with Stuart's wife, Connie Smith, providing atmospheric vocals) succumbs to new-age romanticism. Yet music and message achieve a powerful synthesis on "Broken Promise Land," where the urgency of the performance bristles with righteous indignation, and a revival of Cash's little-heard "Big Foot." From Custer and Crazy Horse through Sitting Bull and Wounded Knee, Stuart offers a musical history lesson of tragedy than cannot be ignored or denied and hope that still glimmers. --Don McLeese

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