Like an angry John Mellencamp, Chris Knight blasts the unfairness of life through stories of small-town and (especially) rural hopes, and the dashed dreams that too often bring them down. Knight lacks the subtlety of some similarly character-driven songwriters like Springsteen and Dylan, but subtlety isn't his aim; hoarse passion and evocative imagery give this pissed-off holler of an album its force. Knight's originality, in the context of heartland rock, lies in his advocacy of the small farmer rather than the suburban hard-luck case or union laborer. His axe hits squarely: "I watch them tear it all to hell/What used to be my church/Tearing up my Grandpa's land/Treating my Grandpa's land like dirt." But there's defiance, too, in grainy tales like "William's Son," a highlight of his powerful live show: "And every now and then I kneel and pray/That things will get better one of these days/But I'll spit in your eye and stand my ground/Just to keep my head from hanging down."

Producer Gary Nicholson, who has worked with everyone from Etta James to George Jones, makes the CD sound both perfect and real, and he and others have some co-writing credits. But this is Knight's show, the product of one man's skilfully honed, often damning vision. --- Jon Sobel