James McMurtry & the Heartless Bastards - Live in Aught-Three

James Mcmurtry's written plenty of great songs, but he's never made a great album. His character sketches and stories have always rung true, and he's as perceptive a chronicler of the disaffected and alienated as you'll find, but his limited vocal range and sometimes almost-indifferent delivery have made even his best discs, Too Long In The Wasteland and Where'd You Hide The Body a struggle to get through. Live In Aught-three isn't a great album, but the live setting lets Mcmurtry and his backing group, the Heartless Bastards, breathe real rock & roll life into many of these songs for the first time. Read More