The main thing that has always been interesting about Emmylou Harris is her choice of material. She has written and co-written some good songs ("Boulder To Birmingham", for example), but succeeds primarily as an interpreter. This album can be singled out not only for its interpretive qualities, but for the incredible atmosphere created by producer Daniel Lanois. The recording has a similar dark, introspective ambience familiar from Lanois' work with Bob Dylan, and it works wonderfully with these songs.

There are no weak track on the disc. High quality songs by Neil Young and Bob Dylan ("Every Grain of Sand") are here along with lesser known gems by Lucinda Williams ("Sweet Old World") and Steve Earle ("Goodbye"). However, for this listener, the songs penned by Lanois himself are the real high points. All three are unforgettable. "Deeper Well", a collaboration with Harris, will haunt the listener long after a single hearing. These songs are nothing short of brilliant and deserve to be known by all interested in any kind of contemporary music.

Many of the songwriters featured on this recording participate in the performances as well (Dylan, is of course absent, but it is hard to imagine his song being any better than it is here).

An indispensible CD.

As a long term Emmylou fan, I avoided this album for years because of the wrong-headed negative reviews that centered too much on Producer Daniel Lanios' mystique. Having gotten this CD today for X-mas, I must say that not having this group of songs in my life for years has been my sad loss. I'm on my tenth play-through and I tell you, the haunting, Lanois-Guitar tracks layered over Larry Mullen Jr's insistant but not intrusive Irish drumming style transforms Emmylou's Cosmic American voice into a true Cosmic World voice. The peculiar arrangements don't annoy, they intrigue, giving you new reasons to respect the songwriters represented here (Dylan, Neil Young, Gillian Welch, Jimmi Hendrix and more). The fragility of her voice is a perfect foil to Lanois' wall of ethereal sound. If you have never bought an Emmylou album before because you consider her "country" (which she is NOT, but she can be perceived that way) then you must listen to this CD first. The wide variation in songs show you her depth but they are produced in such a way that they flow from one into the other to produce a truly hallowed sound. I was especially moved by Emmylou's take on Dylan's classic EVERY GRAIN OF SAND. It is of course, based on scripture and her reading of the song can be taken either as a personal revelation of the gift of life or as an affirmation of one's own faith. For more detailed notes on Lanois and the other songs consult the reviews below. Finally, if my husband the Head-banger can find something to adore about this CD along with myself, a Celtic Folk baby, then transcendent is the best word to describe the apeal.

imagine that this album had come out prior to 1987 instead. a third of all negative comments would have become unneccesary. which proves that a lot of what you've read that are negative are really comments made by fans who think ms harris' working with lanois, is a sell out.

take heart. some of the best albums ever recorded have irked fans totally & in some cases, critics too. consider lou reed's 'berlin', then think 'pet sounds' by the beach boys. what you must remember is this: that recording the same album over & again takes no great effort. in which case, 'wrecking ball' is on many levels a great classic album. only when you decide to break out of the paradigm box, & do something so completely different from what you've done does it require brilliance & immense talent. only when you put yourself to the test, risking everything when you have no reason to, can you know how far you've run.

what also marks this album out from a slew of other albums out there with covers is the remarkable inclusion of songs that are, for the most part, lesser known. you would have thought a dylan song like 'lay lady lay' or 'forever young' would be obvious choices for an album like this, but emmylou instead picked a lesser known 'every grain of sand', & there must be a thousand neil young songs out there she could have covered, she chose instead to cover 'wrecking ball'. a thinly veiled but appropriate allusion, but which describes this effort completely. how could anyone not know this?

variously, some people have described emmylou harris like she's some brain washed robot in the hands of an evil maniacal producer. what everyone seems to have forgotten is the participation of the original songwriters & singers of the songs she had chosen to cover. on practically every track, with the exception of dylan, welch & hendrix of course, lucinda williams, steve earle, the mcgarrigles & young were there & they participated. it's almost like a singer's second chance with a song they had sung years before, but which they can now sing again - only much better this time, & with ms harris on lead vocals too.

on the two songs she actually wrote, the sublime 'walk across texas tonight' but especially on 'deeper well', she shows us a maturity & like no other songwriter had since dylan & a very young lou reed. with a voice, almost pagan like, that positively evokes a sense of urgency & immediate danger. this is a song like no other person can sing it, & the words seem to roll from those thespian lips like as if she hardly took a breath; as if they were pushed out from her lips with an intensely personal emotional pressure instead.

this is a great album because it works on so many levels. ms emmylou harris, godmother of alternative country music, just recorded one of the best albums of the nineties, got millions of people around the world who couldn't relate to country, sit up & listen, & many more people wondering if they had been wrong about country music all this time & she gets lynched for everything from an uninspired horrid album cover, to every country music evil there can possibly be.

i say only this. that an album which correctly educates us all who have deviated, that all genres of rock music, grew out of country music; an album that quietly reminds us that every master of rock music, from young, to dylan, to elvis & the beatles owe everything that they've learnt & know to this music form & an album that is responsible for a hundred new country music converts year after year, bears the mark of a great classic album. this then, is the power that is this milestone 1995 album.

I've always enjoyed Emmylou Harris. She has struck me as one of the most honest performers in Country Western music. But, what I enjoy most about Emmylou Harris is that she is not afraid to take chances and this recording is a major departure from her previous work. She has drifted into that no man's land of folk and grunge music to create a very compelling album which seems to owe much to Neil Young, with whom she collaborated on this collection of plaintive ballads. Those used to her sweet melodic voice may be disappointed, because Emmylou really bares herself on this one, warts and all. The title is very apt because she shatters many of myths that surround her, and leaves you aching for more. It is such a rich recording. Each song gives you an aspect of Emmuylou Harris which you didn't know before.

No CD collection is complete without this marvellous venture by Harris, which includes breathtaking covers of numbers by stalwarts such as Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Lucinda Williams among others. Giving the album its dark ambience and its almost primal percussions is Daniel Lanois, better known for his work with U2 or Peter Gabriel. And it shows.

I thought of Harris as primarily a country/folk singer, but here she breaks free from the conventions of cheatin', hurtin', pickup trucks and what not; her song-selection addresses real issues here. I highly recommend picking up Wrecking Ball, a work of exceptional grace, depth, and beauty. Noteworthy number: "Deeper Well".