Randy Newman - Good Old Boys Album

Although recorded in the mid-70s, the Good Old Boys album still sounds fresh. The redneck concept works well for Newman, who uses guitar and synthesizer to great effect. With the recent devastation in New Orleans, Newman's song "Louisiana 1927," about the terrible flood of that year, is haunting and prophetic. The album contains barbed social commentary ("Rednecks," which attacks Southern and Northern racism), vibrant character sketches ("A Wedding in Cherokee County" and "Naked Man"), and bittersweet love songs ("Guilty" and "Marie"). With such topnotch songwriting, this album says more in thirty minutes than most bands say in all their full range of work.