Sublime, beautiful, ageless and timeless.

Review Score: (10/10)
Daniel Lanois' production on this record does seem to subvert Emmylou Harris' musical style a little to his own, but the Lanois sound is so gorgeous that it hardly matters. And Harris, the queen of the flawless lead vocal, finds a more careless, more ragged, but also highly dramatic vocal style here which seems informed by the writer of the album's namesake song "Wrecking Ball", Neil Young.

"Where Will I Be"'s engaging rhythm and spare, reverb-drenched guitars immediately sends the soundscape into a realm of superb beauty, and when Harris' voice kicks in with those lovely, occasional notes and that haunting chorus, it's magical. Steve Earl's "Goodbye" is one of the strongest songs on the album, and when Young joins in on Wrecking Ball, the album has fully blossomed in its sonic majesty, the marriage of Lanois' sublimely ambient production and Harris' peerless vocal prowess complete.

Very few records have been as immediately affecting to me as this one, and as much as I remain a disciple of her heavenly work with Gram Parsons, I'm now also a full-blown convert to Emmylou Harris' latter-day works.

More Reviews:

• Emmylou at her best
• Nice Work
• A gift from the Gods
• haunting and beautiful
• MOODY, EXPERIMENTAL ALT ROCK CAMEO FROM HARRIS
• Can't Understand the Lyrics
• So Much Emotion!
• Excellent cd from Ms. Harris
• Brilliant from start to finish
• Another masterpiece
• Harris Never Disappoints
• Achingly Beautiful
• THE BEST ALL-ROUND ALBUM IN MY COLLECTION
• MY FAVORITE NEW RELEASE OF THE LAST DECADE
• Cosmic American Music
• Emmylou as you never heard her before.
• ...wow...
• Masterpiece!
• Timeless
• Artsy Fartsy
• A truly great album.
• Essential Music
• The amazing versatility of Emmy Lou
• emmylou makes the album of her life
• Emmylou's Masterpiece
• Stands Up With Time
• One of the best albums of the 90's
• Absolutely awful
• a breakout album, but NOT indispensable.
• a breakout album, but NOT indispensable.
• Emmylou's best
• near perfection...
• Essential
• Finely crafted achievement
• Very disappointing
• Like 'Red Dirt Girl' but earlier
• the middle ground
• LEARNING TO APPRECIATE
• Incredible. One of the best albums of the 90's.
• Pretty Awful
• A stunning piece of work
• Emmylou Harris' Greatest Masterpiece!
• Beautiful
• A transcedent, religious experience for any music fan
• wasted talent in lousy production
• breaking out of the paradigm box
• a horrible, horrible album
• Still great after all these years...
• Another Lanois Disaster
• One of my favorites
• Awesome and touching
• disappointed
• wonderful collection of covers
• Daniel Lanois - Wrecking Ball
• 'Sweet old world' rivals Bowie's 'Wild is the wind'
• SUBLIME ALLTIME CLASSIC
• Splendid
• Mommy, make the bad music go away!
• A Haunting Masterpiece
• Another Daniel Lanois production miracle
• A fine departure
• Tantric Country
• A Masterpiece
• 5-star songs - 1-star production
• Wrecking Ball
• Superb
• Stunning
• EXCELLENT CD... For torture!
• Wrecking Ball is a blast
• One of the best albums of the nineties
• Wonderful
• IT DESERVES 6 STARS...
• The best album of the 90's
• Emmylous's fnest hour bar none
• What a thorough disappointment
• Another realm
• A fine wine
• Astonishing
• Best album of 1995
• Sounds like she's on downers, slurred lyrics and dynamics.
• Quivering.....
• An incredible, otherworldly listening experience
• Damn the Niches: Emmy Drops Da Bomb
• Essential to ANY Music Collection
• Absolutely Stunning!
• whispers from the heart
• Native rythyms.
• Definitely One of the Best
• If country music is winsome, this recording should have won.
• Cannot get these songs out of my head!
• A-M-A-Z-I-N-G
• Best album for quite a few years
• The BEST CD I have ever listened to!!!
• One of the best
• A CD that gives something new to appreciate at each listen..
• Weird...but GREAT!!!
• Fantastic album!