High Bias refreshed

UNCLE TUPELO
89/93: An Anthology
(Columbia/Legacy)
Sony Legacy opens its forthcoming reissue program for Uncle Tupelo with 89/93: An Anthology, a single disk retrospective that samples the band's four albums and adds tracks from singles, compilations and demos. Uncle Tupelo is, of course, the shot heard 'round the world as far as so-called alternative country is concerned. While the Belleville trio was hardly the first combine C&W with rock (see also: Jason & the Scorchers, the Long Ryders, the Flying Burrito Brothers, etc.), its first album No Depression hit at just the right time (1990), producing the earnest strains of American roots music into what was already becoming a staid, formulaic rock underground. Songwriters Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy can be credited with not only reconnecting the American underground with its roots, but also reintroducing the idea that postpunk rock need not be steeped in layers of irony to be effective. The lasting legacy of the alt.country movement will be less its actual sound than its reassertion of the song itself being the most important element of music, and Uncle Tupelo was the point band for that. We owe them a great deal.

Of course, it didn't hurt that the band's Hüsker Dü-meets-Gram Parsons sound was just plain cool. Listen to the rocked-up chickin' pickin' of "Graveyard Shift," "Watch Me Fall" and "I Got Drunk" (the band's first single, never before on CD) or the Neil Youngish power rock of "Gun," "The Long Cut" and "Chickamauga"—you don't have to be a No Depression fan to grok the group's roots-punk magic. Uncle Tupelo had a way with a ballad as well, a trait perhaps overemphasized by this compilation, but it's hard to argue with songs as good as "Fatal Wound," "Sauget Wind" (another single making its first digital appearance) and "Still Be Around." While diehards may quibble with some of the song selection—the inclusion of "Life Worth Livin'," "So Called Friend," "D. Boon" and the band's cover of Doug Sahm's "Give Back the Key to My Heart" would've been nice—they should be appeased by the rarities. In addition of the previously-mentioned singles sides, also included is the acoustic version of "Looking For a Way Out" (the B-side to "Sauget Wind"), a demo of the first album's "Outdone," a countrified cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog," a live version of "We've Been Had" from a promo-only EP and a cover of CCR's "Effigy," from the No Alternative AIDS benefit album. (Even here, though, something's missing—where's "Won't Back Down" from the long out-of-print Matter of Degrees soundtrack?)

Uncle Tupelo aficionados have probably already made their own mix CDs with their own favorites, but if you're one of those and you've always wanted to turn your buddies on to UT's roots rock majesty, 89/93: An Anthology is a good, economical way to do it. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Jason & the Scorchers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Flying Burrito Brothers