Willie Nelson - Lost Highway (2009)

Willie Nelson never has been known for his consistency, either in style or quality, yet his stint at Lost Highway Records may be his most schizophrenic collection of recordings ever. Signed to the alt country label at the turn of the decade, Nelson proceeded to cut a muddled mainstream crossover, pitched himself at Lost Highway's typical Americana audience with an album produced by Ryan Adams, pander to his forgotten mainstream country audience with an album produced by Kenny Chesney, salute the stoners with a reggae album, and tip his hat to the main lady of Western swing with a tremendous tribute album to songwriter Cindy Walker. In between all of that, Willie wound up having his only genuine hit single of the decade dueting with Toby Keith on the post-9/11 pro-vigilante "Beer for My Horses," and scored some serious column inches when he dredged up "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" in the wake of the homosexual romantic western Brokeback Mountain. All this is heard on Lost Highway and hearing the highlights condensed to a single 17-track collection only makes it all seem more confusing. This was a time when Willie was happy to be all things to everybody -- an impression confirmed by the release of Willie's cover of the Saddle Sores' "Ain't Goin' Down on Brokeback Mountain," a song that undoes whatever "Cowboys" did -- and lost sight of why anybody cared about him in the first place.