Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (LP)

Car Wheels on a Gravel Road won a grammy for Williams for this album, as Lucinda went through music business hassles and a revolving door of producers. The reward for their patience is an album full of rootsy, heartfelt observations that alternately rock and mourn. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is full of songs about loss and longing, like ‘Metal Firecracker,’ ‘Drunken Angel’ and ‘I Lost It,’ but even when she’s bemoaning her own lack of happiness on the bluesy ‘Joy,’ she lets loose with so much passion that it seems inevitable she’ll find her emotional center again.