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OK, time for a country music starter kit.  Song about life on the road? Check. (“Wicked Twisted Road”) Breakup song? Check. (A Lot to Ask”).  Songs about love and heartache?  Check, check, and double check.  A tip of the hat to southern rock acts like The Eagles or .38 Special? Check.  Cowboys? Yep.  Guns? Got it.

With all of these prerequisites in mind, you might think Wicked Twisted Road is a formulaic, paint by numbers album by Reckless Kelly.  Well, as it has been said many times, you know what happens when you assume.  This disc puts a new twist on some of the oldest clichés in the book, and elevates itself out of the standard Nashville cookie cutter twang, while avoiding the overly polished pop that passes for country music these days.

"7 Nights in Eire” bridges the connection between Irish and country music as well as it can be done.  “Dogtown” portrays a small town that feels like a trap. “Wretched Again” depicts the man out of love, and his current state as a result.  “Stick Around” longs for this one to be the one that lasts.

“These Tears” is defiant in its refutation of the one who left, denying she had any effect on him.  “Nobody Haunts Me Like You” put the lie to that sentiment.  

Wicked Twisted Road can be summed us thusly: if you are a country music fan, you will really like this record.  If you occasionally listen to country, this is one of the albums you should make time for.  Bonus points for the packaging, which include two tiny dice entrapped in the CD case, and a board game on the flip side of the lyric sheet.

Brian A. Smith
30 January 2005