Copperhead Road

Steve Earle

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: October 17, 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000001BZT
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,743 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #47 in	Music > Indie Music > Country > Alt-Country & Americana
  #64 in	Music > Rock > Singer-Songwriters
  #74 in	Music > Rock > Roots Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It happens to every hard partier--your lifestyle eventually catches up to you. For Steve Earle, this third so-so effort from the then-roué-ish troubadour was a pretty glaring rehab-ahead warning light. The sloppiness was beginning to show: half the disc bogs down in throwaways, cheap echoes of Guitar Town and Exit 0's country-rock acumen. The rest, fortunately, is prime, focused Earle: the Vietnam-vet title track, the Wild West-themed "Snake Oil," and the oft-covered classic "The Devil's Right Hand," in which the composer achieves that perfect balance of city-slick pop and hillbilly twang. Earle would hit that one-two combo again, but not until he shook that party monkey a few albums later. --Tom Lanham

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde...together again, April 28, 2000

By	Johnny Roulette (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

I must admit that I hated Copperhead Road when it came out. I was 17 and if it wasn't punk- it wasn't for me. Oh, how things have changed! I now see this as a nearly flawless effort. This record was a tale of two Earles. Side one(tracks 1-5) are dirty rock songs with a healthy dose of Earle's country/folk(even Irish) roots. Steve was headed for a crash, but he wasn't quite at the wall when this was released in 1988. Three of the first five are still regulars in his set-list today(The Devil's Right Hand/Copperhead Road & Johnny Come Lately). The Pogues play with Earle on Johnny Come Lately(yes, Shane MacGowan is playing a banjo here!). The last five songs are basically ballads with a bit of a charge in them. On the final track, Nothing But A Child, Earle is joined by Telluride. The Jekyll & Hyde nature of this release works for me...it won't work for eveyone(but then, what does?). The dirt that you collect on the first half of this album is cleansed by the longing ache of the second half. Steve Earle never puts the same record out twice. They are all very different...This was his third major release. It was unlike the two before it and nothing like it has come from him since. Earle's diversity and intelligence, along with his wonderful gift for storytelling are what keep his fans coming back, no matter what banner a particular release is flying. This is a great rock album with some radio-friendly songs that get inside your head and aren't easily dislodged. Enjoy. Do yourself a huge favor...check him out when he tours. One of the best live shows I see every year.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steve Earle the polymath, March 5, 2002

By	Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

What is it? Is it country? Is it southern rock? What is that banjo doing in there? Is this guy an Irishman? Steve Earle continually confounds and tests his audience with his polymathic tastes and talents. Listen to the bagpipe drone that introduces the title tune, "Copperhead Road," which ends with the same bagpipes but in between, employs propulsive drumming and hard-charging guitar. "Snake Oil," the very next track, sounds almost precisely like something Lynrd Skynrd might have recorded in the 1970s. "Johnny Come Lately" sounds musically as though it might have sprung from the hand of a Civil War-era Irish immigrant, yet it manages to be fresh today. Remarkably, all the songs on the album--as on every Steve Earle album--were authored by Earle himself. The guy is amazing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hard-Rocking CD, March 14, 2002

By A Customer

When presented with this eclectic "bluegrass/heavy metal" project, MCA transferred Earle's account to their rock division, Uni International, and Earle's road band had already undergone a dramatic country-to-rock change of personnel. Newly recruited guitarist Donnie Roberts is a rough-edged hard rocker, not as proficient on his instrument as former studio whiz/producer Richard Bennett. Roberts' guitar sound changes the ambience of this album, and with Earle producing, the result is an eclectic rock record. Earle's writing saves the day. Released as a single, "Copperhead Road" achieved enormous crossover success onto the rock charts and VH1, and it remains one of Earle's best-known songs. The oft-recorded "Devil's Right Hand" is here, as is "Snake-Oil," and the touching "Only A Child," perhaps a nod to Earle's own children. At any rate, this effort established Earle as a definitive rock crossover artist, capable of surviving on both sides (or the middle) of the country/rock fence.