Bragg and Wilco have created magic on 'Mermaid Avenue', a perfect amalgamation of their talents. Caught somewhere between folk, pop and alt-country, 'Mermaid Avenue' is easily one of the best recordings of the last decade. Rather than create a Woody Guthrie sound-alike, they've paid him the ultimate complement by building something unique from the framework he left behind.
There is a gentle sensibility to the songs here, a sort of reverence for the source material that you can feel while listening. Bragg and Jeff Tweedy trade-off on lead vocals throughout, with Natalie Merchant lending some help on one track and taking the lead herself on another. The styles range from straight-ahead folk to straight-ahead pop-rock, with Wilco laying a solid sonic foundation for all three vocalists.
They just don't make many 'albums' (in the 1970s, 'concept' sense of the word) anymore. 'Mermaid Avenue' is, above all else, an 'album'. Guthrie's lyrics run a gamut of topics, of course, but the unity here is in the spirit and in the richness of the playing. Fans of Bragg and/or Wilco will drool, fans of Guthrie will find revelation, fans of inspired music will rejoice.
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