"It was the tiiiiime of the preacher..."

Holy shit, I love this album.

Over the last two years, I think I've listened to this album straight-through at least 30 times. And I've found, listening to it again today, miraculously it's still fresh.

However, to be fair, I should mention that I first heard The Red Headed Stranger during a particularly melodramatic time in my life ("It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times..."), and this album played the perfect score. Wistful, slow and murderous. And that every song on the album seems to be played in the same key helps blur the lines between just enough to give the impression of a concept album. What's the concept? I have no clue. "Drunk"? "November"? Something somber... Now I can't hear it without thinking of that particularly dark time, nor can I recall that time without the faint sound of Willie Nelson's voice in my head.

Anyway, since that time, I really haven't found another album or artist has excited me as much, or compelled me to go in search of everything that artist has ever done. And since that time, I haven't had a lasting interest in any genre of music other than country blues. But perhaps it's because I simply haven't had much interest in music in general.