A good Willie Nelson album is like a good bottle of wine. His voice is perfectly aged and sounds as good as ever. Lost Highway is a collection of some of Nelson’s recent gems, some of which are immediately recognizable and some that you may not have heard before.
˝Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me˝), with Rob Thomas, is a fun, lighthearted way to start off the album, which includes guest appearances from such music legends as Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, and Ray Price.
For me, the treasures of this album are ˝Back to Earth˝ from Songbird (produced by Ryan Adams and feature the Cardinals as Willie’s studio band) and the several unreleased songs, including ˝Superman˝. If you have seen Willie in concert recently, he loves to perform this song live, but the album version really stands out on this collection.
Of course, you also get a few of Willie’s greatest hits, including ˝Mendocino County Line˝, featuring Leann Womack, Beer for My Horses, with Toby Keith and Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain with Shania Twain (a very interesting version of this classic song).
If you are a Willie Nelson fan, this is one that has to be in your collection. If you are new to Willie, what a great place to start.