Wylie & the Wild West - Hooves of the Horses

Pros

• "Equus Caballus"
• "Mmm... Montana"
• "Saddle Broncs and Sagebrush"

Cons

• "Leather Lover"

Description

• Sixteen traditional Western tunes presented in a crisp, professional style.
• Ninth album release for Wylie and the Wild West.
• The voice popularly known for his "Yahoo!" yodel for the internet search engine.

Guide Review - Wylie & the Wild West - Hooves of the Horses

These days cowboy singers can and do come from everywhere. Still, it's nice to run across one that's native to the American West, in fact, a place where there's still more open space than people -- Montana. Wylie Gustafson and his Wild West hail from those open spaces, and unlike many other western singers, when the sun comes up, he's outside feeding this cattle and taking care of his horses. That truth comes across in his obvious love for the music he's making.

With songs such as "Equus Caballus," "Out Here," and "Mmm... Montana," Gustafson pays a humble tribute to the land he loves and that all-important worker of the plains, the horse. In fact, the liner notes are decorated with pictures of the horses he loves rather than his own face. He writes a number of his own songs, including the amusing Spanglish song "Manolito," which uses lines like "Manolito el caballo bonito, el gato at cuttin' the cattle/ Barely stands 14 hands, but he sabe the business bueno." He also includes a few covers, including Buddy Holly's "Everyday" and Johnny Cash's "Luther Played The Boogie," which sounds surprisingly cool sung with Gustafson's high tenor.

Of course, there is some very cool yodeling. Absolutely can't do without that.