Steve Earle: Train A Comin' (Transatlantic/Castle Communications TRA 111)

HAVING ALLOWED a promising career to be blighted by delusions of grandeur — remember those four-hour, son-of-Springsteen shows? — and latterly a stretch in prison on a drugs rap, Steve Earle has produced a comeback album that ranks among the best he has recorded. A heartfelt collection of songs, written at various stages throughout his performing life but not previously recorded, Train A Comin' is a simple, sometimes stark album that plays to Earle's strengths as a singer of country-rock tunes with a direct emotional and narrative drive.