This is a new album in the most liberal sense of the word; there's only one new song in the set list, with the rest of the album comprised of numbers from Jimmy Webb's oft-visited songbook. The hook is the fresh Country/Bluegrass/Folk arrangements of some of his most familiar songs and the presence of superstar duet partners.  

Effusive praise and predictions of imminently wild success have greeted just about every Alejandro Escovedo release for the past 20 years, and it's hard to pinpoint why the Austin-based singer/songwriter still languishes in the realm of cult adoration. The presence of Bruce Springsteen and Ian Hunter on his new album, 'Street Songs of Love,' might attract some of their fan bases who have yet to discover the joys of Escovedo, but the good news contained here is that his power to effect listeners on an elemental level remains stronger than ever.  

When the "comeback album" or "career reinvention" works, as it did with Johnny Cash's rootsy 'American Recordings' series, it can be among the artist's best work ever. When it doesn't ... well, has anybody heard from Pat Boone since 1997's hilariously disastrous 'In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy?' One of the better such albums came out last year: 'Meet Glen Campbell.'