Country Music

  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. Country Music

Marty Stuart - Badlands

About.com Rating five out of Five

From Kathy Coleman, for About.com

Marty Stuart - Badlands

Marty Stuart - Badlands

The Bottom Line

In this era of sound-byte hit songs and bottom-line corporate demands for same, it's rare that an artist can present a full album on a single, solid theme where all the songs fit together in perfect harmony. Marty Stuart has done it once before, with the extraordinary 1999 release, "The Pilgrim." Now he does it again, with the rich, poignant "Badlands," a breathtaking tribute to the American Indian, specifically the plains Indians of the Dakota Badlands.
Pros
  • "Badlands"
  • "Big Foot"
  • "Walking Through The Prayers"
Cons
  • None.

Description

  • Produced by Marty Stuart.
  • Co-produced by John Carter Cash.
  • All songs written by Marty Stuart, except "Bigfoot" written by John R. Cash.

Guide Review - Marty Stuart - Badlands

I love theme albums. There might be a track or two that could be a "radio hit," but there doesn't have to be, because the entirety of the album is so much more rich when it's kept together. It's a more common phenomenon in rock music, where you can find such albums as Pink Floyd's "The Wall," or Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell," albums which are really self-contained operas, telling a complete story. But there are a few in country music, and Marty Stuart has done two of them. Back in 1999 he gave us the unequaled brilliance of "The Pilgrim," and now, we have "Badlands."

I grew up with a father who was a student of this exact period of history Marty takes on, from Wounded Knee to the Little Bighorn. There's never been a time in my life when I didn't know the names of the heroes of both sides, but most history leans, naturally, on the side of Custer and the 7th. Marty's songs tell more of it from the other side. He gives voice to Crazy Horse, Big Foot, Sitting Bull, and the other great chiefs who tried and failed to save their people and their way of life.

Sometimes I think we as a nation go overboard when it comes to being apologists for Manifest Destiny. Political correctness takes us too far in the opposite direction, and I don't see us Westerners pulling up stakes and moving back to Europe in our eagerness to make amends. But I think that remembering, honoring, and understanding those who fought is a step in the right direction. This disc remembers, and tries to understand.

Compare Prices

Explore Country Music

More from About.com

Browse All About.com

Country Music

  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. Country Music
  4. Artists
  5. Male Artists A-L
  6. All Things Cash
  7. All In The Family
  8. Marty Stuart
  9. Marty Stuart - Badlands

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.