John Prine - Fair and Square

John Prine has never been the most prolific of artists, but what he's lacked in quantity, he's more than made up for in quality. "Fair and Square" is his first album in five years, and the first of all-new material in a decade. It was worth the wait. Prine sounds older, wearier (not unsurprising, after a bout with a cancer - squamous cell carcinoma - in his neck), but still one- hundred-percent Prine.

My greatest regret about this album is that I didn't get to hear it until I had already finished my "Top Ten of 2005," because, dang it, it belongs at (or darn near) the top. After a serious bout with cancer in his neck, surgery, and chemotherapy, it's easy to understand why Prine sounds even more haggard now than he used to; but that old humor is still very much in evidence, as is his unique and quirky way with words, in these all-new songs, each one sparkling with true Prine style.

Prine takes on love in "Glory of True Love" and "She Is My Everything," while he touches on the general insanity of the world in "Crazy As A Loon," and it wouldn't be a John Prine album without a poke at the political status quo, and he does that with a typical sharp- edged bite, as in "Some Humans Ain't Human": "Have you ever noticed/ When you're feeling really good/ There's always a pigeon/ That'll come shit on your hood/ Or you're feeling your freedom/ And the world's off your back/ Some cowboy from Texas/ Starts his own war in Iraq." Not for Prine any backing down from controversy!

"Fair and Square" features 12 songs, plus two "bonus" tracks, a live cut from a recording at the Ryman Auditorium, and what sounds like a spontaneous studio recording called "Safety Joe," another sly tongue-in-cheek Prine original. Alison Krauss shows up on a couple of tracks to do harmony vocals, bringing along Dan Tyminski and Jerry Douglas on "My Darlin' Hometown."