Album Review: 'El Corazon' Eleven years after his prescient debut, this prickly alt-country survivor's insights into institutional callousness ("Christmas in Washington"), romantic longing ("Somewhere Out There"), and personal iconoclasm… Steve Earle Country
EW's GRADE
A-

Details Lead Performance: Steve Earle; Genre: Country

Eleven years after his prescient debut, this prickly alt-country survivor's insights into institutional callousness (''Christmas in Washington''), romantic longing (''Somewhere Out There''), and personal iconoclasm (''Here I Am'') resonate with hard-won wisdom. Elsewhere, ''You Know the Rest'' is a summary of human history that could be Earle's ''Highway 61 Revisited,'' and ''Ft. Worth Blues'' pays moving tribute to pal Townes Van Zandt. A-

Originally posted Oct 17, 1997 Published in issue #401 Oct 17, 1997 Order article reprints