MARIA McKEE - ULTIMATE COLLECTION

MARIA McKEE - ULTIMATE COLLECTION MARIA McKEE Ultimate Collection I fell hard for Lone Justice the first time I saw them, playing at Club Lingerie on Sunset Blvd., opening for a seriously dark band called Panther Burns with maybe two dozen sinister-looking people in the audience. The next time I caught ’em, they’d graduated to headliner status at the Palomino, with some guy named Dwight Yoakam as their opening act. By this point they’d been signed to a major label, which — no discredit to their A&R people — had to count as one of the no-brainer calls of all time. It’s hard to overstate what a miracle Lone Justice appeared to be at the time, as the last vestiges of whatever good new wave brought us were giving way to new romantics and techno-pop. McKee, Hedgecock and Marvin Etzioni wrote detailed character studies and hymns of hope and then put a punky bow on all this hard-earned wholesomeness. And when Maria belted out her brother Bryan’s country weeper “Don’t Toss Us Away,” on some nights — legend has it — broken marriages were literally healed on the spot. For those of us who were fans of Emmylou and Exene both, the future never looked so bright. Things took off fast, and while too many cooks didn’t necessarily spoil the broth, the melting pot just got bigger and bigger. Keyboardist Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers became an unofficial member. The band went into the studio with superproducer Jimmy Iovine. U2 invited Lone Justice to open their world arena tour. Saturday Night Live rang. And a highly justifiable level of press hype surrounded the release of Lone Justice, easily one of the finest debuts of the ’80s, albeit an album that caught the band at a transitional phase. Some of the pure country songs that the group had staked its name on in the last couple of years’ live appearances were included, but others were left on the cutting room floor as Maria began writing more mainstream — but still Americana-ish

TRACK LISTING

1.Ways to Be Wicked - LONE JUSTICE
2.Sweet, Sweet Baby (I’m Falling) - LONE JUSTICE
3.Don’t Toss Us Away - LONE JUSTICE
4.Shelter - LONE JUSTICE
5.Wheels - LONE JUSTICE
6.Panic Beach
7.Only Once
8.Absolutely Barking Stars
9.I'm Awake
10.Scarlover
11.If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)
12.Show Me Heaven [acoustic demo version]
13.Sweetest Child [single mix]
14.Sweet Jane [live] - LONE JUSTICE
15.Dixie Storms - LONE JUSTICE
16.Breathe
17.Am I the Only One (Who’s Ever Felt This Way)

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