Heroes

by Willie Nelson

Overview

Returning to the Columbia/Sony family after nearly two decades away, Willie Nelson once again tries to be everything to everybody on 2012's Heroes, an appealingly misshapen collection of classics, contemporaries, and originals. Heroes -- its title signifying no great concept -- is roughly divided into quarters, with part of the album devoted to the Western swing and Texas country he's always loved to sing, part consisting of new songs from Willie, part originals from his son Lukas, and part covers of newer, rock-oriented tunes from the likes of Tom Waits, Eddie Vedder, and Chris Martin. Each of these categories is a bit hit-or-miss, either succumbing to cutesy novelty (the dope-smoking anthem "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die," complete with country cadences from a non-rapping Snoop Dogg) or laziness, and there's a wee bit too much Lukas Nelson scattered throughout the record, with the son of the father singing on no less than nine of the album's 14 songs. This can be too much of a strong spice, obscuring the overall flavor of the music, but Lukas contributes a couple of the record's best songs in "Every Time He Drinks He Thinks of Her" and "The Sound of Your Memory," songs that fit well next to a quite beautiful version of Vedder's "Just Breathe" and yet another strong, swinging rendition of "My Window Faces the South." And so Heroes kind of winds up summarizing all that's good and bad about Willie as he approaches his 80th birthday: he's open to everything but has no innate editor, so he whiffs as often as he connects, but when he does connect, it's a wonder to behold...and somehow he can still surprise whenever he sings those old songs. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	05/15/2012
Label:	Legacy
UPC:	0886919604825

Tracks

1. A Horse Called Music
2. Roll Me Up
3. That's All There Is to This Song
4. No Place to Fly
5. Every Time He Drinks He Thinks of Her
6. Come on Up to the House
7. Hero
8. My Window Faces the South
9. The Sound of Your Memory
10. Cold War with You
11. Just Breathe
12. Home in San Antone
13. Come on Back Jesus
14. The Scientist

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Willie Nelson   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
Melonie Cannon   Vocals (Background)
Justin Stanley   Drums,Keyboards
Buddy Cannon   Bass,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Lance Miller   Vocals (Background)
Butch Carr   Synthesizer
Tony Creasman   Drums
Kris Kristofferson   Vocals (Background)
Lukas Nelson   Guitar (Electric)
Mike Johnson   Guitar (Steel)
Kevin Grantt   Bass
Bobby Terry   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Steve Brewster   Drums
Mickey Raphael   Harmonica
Jim "Moose" Brown   Piano,Wurlitzer
Greg Leisz   Pedal Steel
Doyle Bramhall II   Bass,Guitar

Technical Credits

Jonny Buckland   Composer
Rich Alves   Composer
Kathleen Brennan   Composer
Justin Stanley   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Buddy Cannon   Composer,Producer
Guy Berryman   Composer
Mitchell Parish   Composer
Willie Nelson   Composer
Tom Waits   Composer
Butch Carr   Mixing,Engineer
Andrew Mendelson   Mastering
T.W. Cargile   Engineer
Will Champion   Composer
Jerry Livingston   Composer
Abner Silver   Composer
Jared Dodd   Assistant Engineer
Lukas Nelson   Composer
Frank Harkins   Design,Photography,Art Direction
Micah Nelson   Composer
Chris Martin   Composer
David McClister   Photography
Natthaphol Abhigantaphand   Assistant
Shelley Anderson   Assistant
Gordon Hammond   Assistant Engineer
Daniel Bacigalupi   Assistant
Jeremy Brown   Engineer
Shannon Finnegan   Production Coordination
Travis "Shaggy" Marshall   Engineer
Hunter Van Houten   Assistant Engineer
Brendan Bond   Assistant Engineer
Paul Bowman   Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Mike McQuerry   Composer
John Colgin   Composer
Elizabeth Rainey   Composer
John "Ace" Otten   Engineer
Ryan Staples   Assistant Engineer
Steve Chadie   Engineer
Fred Rose   Composer
Eddie Vedder   Composer
Eric Fritsch   Engineer
Floyd Tillman   Composer
Wayne Carson   Composer
Doyle Bramhall II   Producer