Dwight Yoakam – Gone

Let’s cut to the chase: Gone is Dwight Yoakam’s best record. The writing is top notch–all the heartbreak and loneliness we’ve come to expect. That voice, oh that voice: it’s still the epitome of high and lonesome. And Gone isn’t a retread: the sound is ambitious and challenging. To his trademark retro country sound, Yoakam adds Stax/Volt horns on the opening cut, Cajun driven blues to the title track, a spoken work closer here, echoy effects there. While not the leap Emmylou Harris made on Wrecking Ball, it’ll keep some diehard Music Row radio programmers up all night deciding if it fits within their narrow playlists. Unfortunately, as good as Gone is, it’s not the record Yoakam needed to make. He’s already established that he’s can sell records, that he has integrity, and that he’s consistently the best in the mainstream country music business today. What’s lacking is that final step, from just successful to legendary. To cement his reputation, he needs to make a classic country record, as good as Gary Stewart’s Out Of Hand or James Talley’s Got No Bread, No Milk, and No Money But We Sure Got A Lot Of Love. The songs–while clever and witty–still deal with romance from essentially the same angles as his first record, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.: she wronged him, he’s missing her. Sure the metaphors are new, particularly the card game on “Baby Why Not,” but by this time he ought to know there’s more to love than that. Even with the great new tracks on Gone, his singles collection lacks the variety that makes Hank Williams or Merle Haggard’s catalog remain vital. And we’ve heard it done this way before, too. His voice is pure and sweet, but a precise tool. Only rarely, like on “Try Not To Look So Pretty” from 1993’s This Time, does it really fall down into an emotional fit. On Gone, his singing is crisp and precise, but emotionally restrained–there’s nothing like George Jones in his prime would have done. Gone is a great record, no doubt about it. But it’s ultimately a let down. At one point, Dwight Yoakam was the great Bakersfield hope, a country singer with attitude who just might join the pantheon along Lefty and Merle and the other legends. Good as Gone is, it’s just another Dwight Yoakam record, and it provides evidence that Dwight Yoakam will always be one notch below the truly great.