Kindness of the World
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Description
Seven years after his first album, singer and songwriter Joe Henry finally hit his stride. His second album for Mammoth, released in 1993, appeared at an auspicious time for alternative country's "no depression" resurgence. The Bottle Rockets released their debut, Uncle Tupelo offered their swan song Anodyne, Blue Mountain formed, and growing interest in the Jayhawks' masterpiece Hollywood Town Hall helped build the genre's audience. Kindness of the World clearly belongs in this class. Henry's delivery suggests Dylan's country voice of the late '60s, a nasal but supple twang, and his songwriting--never keener than on the title cut (featuring airy harmony from Victoria Williams) or on the surging, fuzz-guitar driven "Dead to the World"--also pays a debt to that artist. The Jayhawks' Gary Louris and Marc Perlman back Henry, suffusing the whole with rock & roll body and country soul. --Roy Francis Kasten
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