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The wisdom, humor, and literate, biting world view, is all balanced with the wisdom of tenderness, and a poetic sense of the heart's own aspirations and disappointments.
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The opening trifecta of Townes Van Zandt-channeling 'Moving Work of Art,' the biting title track, and searing indictment in 'The Rise and Fall of Intelligent Design' sets the disc's theme of unraveling female cultural constraints and represents the Houston Kid at his best.
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Sex & Gasoline is a really a continuation of what Rodney Crowell has been doing since his return to recording in 2001 with the brilliant, semi-autobiography of "The Houston Kid."
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The 58-year-old songsmith shifts gears and lets someone else produce for a change on Sex and Gasoline, but continues to hit the right notes and nerves on tunes with earthy roots charms bubbling over with smartly phrased discontent.
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Along with peers such as Emmylou Harris and John Hiatt, who also launched their careers in the '70s, Crowell seems to have found the fuel to just keep getting better.
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MojoJoe Henry's production is spot on, giving Crowell's vocals ample breathing room while acknowledging his excellent support team. [Oct 2008, p.106]
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Producer Joe Henry succeeds in putting a Lanois-lite polish on everything, adding a subtle but not overbearing gravitas to the songs that allows Crowell’s humor to slide through without clashing.
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The album’s biggest failing is that it sounds too much like his past three albums. But this also gives this record strength.
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Aside from occasional brushstrokes of pedal steel guitar, producer Joe Henry extracts most of the "country" from these songs, revealing Crowell to be simply a master songwriter, no matter what the genre.
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Still, even at its most strident, Sex and Gasoline is topical and fiercely intelligent in a way that few modern country albums are.
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UncutJoe Henry coaxes out his pithy, hard-bitten wisdom with unfussy production. [Oct 2008, p.98]