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Uncle Tupelo - March 16-20, 1992 (1992)

Track listing:
  1. Grindstone 3:17
  2. Coalminers 2:33
  3. Wait Up 2:09
  4. Criminals 2:20
  5. Shaky Ground 2:49
  6. Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down 1:53
  7. Black Eye 2:19
  8. Moonshiner 4:24
  9. I Wish My Baby Was Born 1:39
  10. Atomic Power 1:51
  11. Lilli Schull 5:16
  12. Warfare 3:43
  13. Fatal Wound 4:09
  14. Sandusky 3:43
  15. Wipe The Clock 2:36

Notes

Produced by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, March 16-20, 1992 represents Uncle Tupelo's full evolution into a true country unit; with the exception of the eerie squalls of guitar feedback which haunt Jeff Tweedy's mesmerizing "Wait Up," there's virtually no evidence of the trio's punk heritage. Instead, the all-acoustic album — a combination of Tupelo originals and well-chosen traditional songs — taps into the very essence of backwoods culture, its music rooted in the darkest corners of Appalachian life. An inescapable sense of dread grips this collection, from the large-scale threat depicted in the stunning rendition of the Louvin Brothers' "The Great Atomic Power" to the fatalism of the worker anthems "Grindstone" and "Coalminers"; even the character studies, including a revelatory "Moonshiner," are relentlessly grim. A vivid glimpse at the harsh realities of rural existence, March 16-20, 1992 is a brilliant resurrection of a bygone era of American folk artistry.