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Empire Builders Amazon.com (customer review) (four stars) September 24, 2004 Ambitious and fruitful politically themed album. Ringenberg's latest solo work is a musical meditation on America abroad. Most of the songs were written while touring through Europe and Australia in 2002 and 2003, and given the political climate (not to mention Ringenberg's cowboy hat and Midwestern drawl), he found plenty of cultural mirrors to reflect in. The disconnect of an American abroad provides contemplations on the USA's international reputation ("American Question"), and the insidious spread of our culture and iconography ("Rebel Flag in Germany"). America's internal conflicts, including the clash of bigotry and patriotism ("Tuskegee Pride"), and manifest destiny's impact on native cultures ("Chief Joseph's Last Dream") provide additional grist for the mill. The songs pose the sort of questions that Alan Jackson's "Where Were You" protagonist might come to with a year or two's distance from 9/11. Having shaken off the initial confusion, one can't help but look past the black and white view our government has posited, and consider how others in the world see us, and historical parallels to the current world situation. Ringenberg provides observations, rather than answers, closing with a meditation on empire. This is the sort of political and social contemplation that marked Springsteen's "Nebraska" and "The Ghost of Tom Joad," and while Ringenberg's sing-song delivery isn't as stirring as Springsteen's raspier Guthrie-meets-rock tone, his timeliness and view are just as welcome. Beyond the social commentary, the album provides several apolitical moments, including a rockin' tribute to Link Wray featuring Eddie Angel on guitar, a twangy new ballad ("She Hung the Moon (Until it Died)"), a wonderful tune about the writer's father ("Half the Man"), and Jim Roll's incredibly sad tale, "Eddie Rode the Orphan Train." Their internal focus provides needed balance, and nicely contextualizes the bigger picture songs as more personal observations than political broadsides. These ambitious, politically reflective lyrics show a greater depth than any of Ringenberg's earlier works. He takes care to lay down some fine twangy rock, but it's the itch in his social consciousness that gives this album its soul. redtunictroll Earth, USA