Steve Earle

Even though Steve Earle's recent remonstrations have taken shape with distorted guitars and highly polished LPs, this simple acoustic performance makes a more traditional, if no less powerful, political statement. Renditions of "Rich Man's War" and "Devil's Right Hand" show that Earle's delivery is just as evocative when he poses as the hard-strumming, harmonica-blowing protest singer. The less acrid hits (including "Copperhead Road") prove that, like any songwriting purist, he's at home with the most stripped down accompaniment.