The idiosyncratic American singer Lucinda Williams has often had problems with record companies and producers in her career. Because she does not want to make any concessions and does not allow herself to be prescribed, only four albums have been published since 1979. Car Wheels On A Gravel Road is the follow-up to the 1992 album Sweet Old World. Strong rock songs like Right In Time and Car Wheels
… On A Gravel Road immediately sound so familiar that they can be sung after just a few spins, in which comparisons with Alanis Morissette are made. The legendary Janis Joplin seems to have modeled for songs like Concrete And Barbed Wire and Lake Charles. Unfortunately not all songs are of high quality. When the tempo slows down like in 2-kool 2 Be 4-gotten and Drunken Angel Williams sounds whiny. But in mid-tempo rockers like Metal Firecracker and Still I Long For Your Kiss she makes up for a lot. (CK)more
