Latest CD releases reviewed

STEVE EARLE
The Revolution Starts Now Artemis
****

The sound is abrasive, the dirty side of distorted, but the message is unequivocal. Steve Earle continues his personal mission against Bush's vision of America, with particular focus on the war in Iraq. In lesser hands the Lennonish title track's call to action would be trite, but the manner in which he drives it straight into the honkytonk of Home To Houston (Iraq-based trucker's story) before giving way to the powerful folk blues of Rich Man's War is enough to curl the fist of the most uncommitted. Most of the 11 tracks deal with the war. Even the Caribbean romance of Condi, Condi is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Ms Rice while F the CC is a snarling denunciation of US freedoms. There is little of the vulnerable Earle, with the exception of the reflective Comin Around and I Thought You Should Know, a wonderful little pill of disenchantment. He ends with the ringing The Seeker and a full-blooded reprise of the title track. www.steveearle.com Joe Breen

KEITH URBAN
Golden Road Capitol
**

Keith Urban sold more than two million copies of his début album in his adopted US homeland and this is its successor. A handsome Aussie who is no stranger to a screaming guitar lick, Urban (funny name, that, for a country singer) wrote the bulk of this and co-produced it with ace country-pop producer Dann Huff (Lonestar, etc). This is model Nashville power-pop, mostly vapid but laced with hooks and choruses that sound familiar because, frankly, they are. Urban is very good at it. His voice is appealing and any one of these songs, such as You Look Good In My Shirt or You're Not My God, could break him over here, though why he re-recorded the converted ad jingle Jeans-on is anyone's guess. www.capitolnashville.com Joe Breen