The opening 4 cuts, Ashes to Ashes, Amerika v6.0, Conspiracy Theory and John Walker's Blues make this worth the money. A crash course in populist politics set to pretty darn good music. It's not your Daddy's country, but then Hank's been dead for a while.

I agree for the most part with the previous review. Earle's not at his best when he's being himself, and this record is packed with Steve’s own political rantings to a pre-big bang density. But perhaps that is indeed the point. This record’s not meant to entertain. It seems Earle’s trying to shake us up and coax listeners into realizing some things. More a crash-cart for the soul than candy for the ears, Jerusalem flows like a textbook. And a few hours with nothing but this record playing and the lyrics held out in front of me did indeed make me reconsider certain political beliefs, but Steve missed me way more than these songs hit me. Unfortunately, the impeccable production style so tastefully employed by Ray Kennedy and Earle himself will forever be tainted by its use here on these mediocre songs. To add insult to injury, Earle’s lazy vocal style on this record makes him sound like he’s singing stoned to the bone with a fat mouth full of spit on almost every song. I keep waiting to hear a dental assistant apply the suction straw in between phrases for some aquatic relief. But if you’re an Earle fan, and if you been on this earth long enough to realize you do not yet know everything, I say this was worth your $15. It’s a far cry from Guthrie or Dylan, but if I told you to save your money for other things, I’m afraid you’d spend it on Tacos & Beer & Letting Yourself Go… and that would be an injustice.

Never thought I'd say this about a Steve Earle album, especially lately, but when it comes to "Jerusalem", released today, save your money. It's long on hype and short on substance. The hype being the controversial "John Walker's Blues", about John Walker Lyndh, the American Taliban, which proved to be rather innocuous and boring, rather than the Woodie Guthrie-esque risk that it was billed as. The rest of the album isn't much better, though it picks up a little at the end. The only stand-out track, "The Truth", is an add-on from a recording session several years back, when Steve was putting together better music. I know this because I downloaded it off Napster two years ago, in the exact same format as it appears here. I was particularly disappointed due to the fact that he had been on such a roll since he got out of prison: "Train A Comin'", "I Feel Alright", "El Corazon", "The Mountain" with the Del McCoury Band, "Transcendental Blues", and "Sidetracks" were all stellar. Guess even the best slip a little now and then. Hopefully Steve will return to form on his next album.