I plan to do a more extensive post on Bruce’s new Wrecking Ball, but I haven’t decided if I should write about the album with the tour, or do separate posts for each. I’m thinking separate. However, one thing that immediately struck me when I first heard the album would be called Wrecking Ball was that one of my favorite albums of all time was already called Wrecking Ball, this one by Emmylou Harris. Begging the question right off the bat, which one is better?

My affection for Emmylou’s Wrecking Ball goes back to the fact that when it came out, September 1995, I was just discovering music. While I had music in my surroundings as a child, and was intense about it practically from the day I was born, in 1995 I was making my first choices into what I liked, and what music actually sounded like. I didn’t realize at the time Emmylou had put out a masterpiece, but I knew the album meant something since my parents bought it as soon as it dropped. I would constantly ask them to play it, or if they allowed me to choose to play a CD, that’s what I picked.

It is not just me touting my own opinion, Emmylou’s Wrecking Ball is considered a masterpiece, one that came out of nowhere at the time. It’s not that she wasn’t putting out good work, she was, but she was at a point in her career where she was doing her duets, covers/standards and simple, easy country that had been expected since the 70s. If you don’t want to say Wrecking Ball is Emmylou’s best album, you can say it is the album she was working her entire life to make. The greatest partner in the history of music, she is fully center-stage like never before. The song selection is impeccable, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Gillian Welch, Anna McGarrigle, Rodney Crowel and, of course, Neil Young, who takes time out to return the favor Emmylou always provides by delivering top backing vocals. It’s also a testament that a number of those who lend their songs, also perform. But it is Emmylou upfront, no place to hide. This is the voice, the voice I want to hear on my deathbed letting me know it is a beautiful world.

And while it is a masterpiece, my argument, as devil’s advocate (or truth teller), to why it is not better than Bruce’s Wrecking Ball – it is not an Emmylou Harris album, it is a Daniel Lanois album.

By the combination of the grace of God and the fantastic love and belief in music of my parents, I grew up studying the universal and awesome art. I had several heroes growing up, majorly from music, but the one who I paid most attention to and identified with was Daniel Lanois. To me, that was who I could be. Lanois is one of the few producers (with Rick Rubin, Phil Spector and a few others) who creates an album. Lanois’ work is distinctive because he becomes a member of the band. He brings a sound that is his sound. Something that always troubles me when I read about the greatest guitarists is how often Lanois is left off the list. The architecture and atmosphere he builds with his ax is singular and gorgeous (the other chip on my shoulder is the lack of respect for Mark Knopfler, no coincidence at one point Dylan has selected both as his right-hand-man, same as Robbie Robertson, a Lanois collaborator).

What Lanois delivers on Wrecking Ball is providing Emmylou with the most unique and singular moment of her career. But the album places her as the focus because it is not his name on the cover. We are wowed by Emmylou as her own artist, not someone lending support, nor needing it, which speaks to Lanios. Lanois knows how to weave his work to put her perfectly with the music, like no other can do. Is it an Emmylou Harris album? Yes. If you don’t own it, pick it up and play it, you’ll fall in love and get wrapped up in Emmylou. But read the liner notes, listen to the genius of Lanois bringing in his mate Larry Mullen, Jr. as the drummer, and then go discover So, The Joshua Tree, Set, Yellow Moon, Flamingo, Time out of Mind, etc. And if you already know ‘em, go listen again. As a matter of fact, listen back to my favorite singer as a child, Rafi, and realize it is Lanois mixing, engineering and playing various instruments on some of his best work, like the eternal Baby Beluga.

But Bruce is Bruce. He makes his own albums, and always has, at least since Born to Run. Yes, Jon Landau has been around forever, and credit has been given to Brendan O’Brien and now Ron Aniello, but there is never any doubt Bruce is in charge, and things will be done how he wants them done.

We are at a point where we can no longer say what is a masterpiece for Bruce. He has put out so many, it is easier to pick apart, and makes critics happier to do so, than just say it is another great piece of work. But Wrecking Ball is a fantastic album, it cuts to the bone, makes us examine our lives and the world around us, and let’s us know everything is going to be fine, there is always hope. It is Bruce’s album. We could debate which album plays better, or stands out for the artist, but I hand it to the Boss… I think.

So what else can we look at? It’s a great bar game. I’ll take The Replacements Let It Be over The Beatles. While I will admit to having a sentimental feeling because of my high school girlfriend for Dave Matthew’s Crash into Me, I would take the Terry Lewis/Jimmy Jam produced Crash album by Human League over DMB. And the original London cast of Les Misérables slightly takes the original Broadway cast, although both feature a superb Colm Wilkinson.

So, which one’s better? What do you have to say on it? What do you have to add?