This is a sometimes delightful, but unfortunately also wildly uneven, album from The Queen of Southwestern Honky-Tonk music. While her rough-around-the-edges delivery is part of her magic, and can sometimes almost make you SMELL the cigarette smoke and cheap whiskey, there are places where this aspect is taken to a pathological extreme on this record and distorts her talent. Part of this comes from he fact that being such a queen of a million club gigs here, she has decided to make this album (which she admirably co-wrote ALL the tunes on) partly Live, and partly overdubbed. While a great idea when it works. When it doesn't, this unprofessional sound, instead of being a refreshing relief from today's mostly too-slick overproduced country, becomes simply grating.

On the bad side, the opening track, "Little Bit More," sounds horribly generic. Almost like the currently running western-swing Southwest Airlines commercial, "Funnel Of Love" could be a dandy song if the annoying jazzy vocal and guitar inflections were removed. "Bring It On" wastes the vocal harmonies of the tune's co-writer, the usually rock-solid Radney Foster, and is mixed so poorly it sounds like a take in someone's house instead of a final album cut.

"We'll Survive" is a very pretty song, where again this bad mixing wastes the pretty background mandolin licks. "From Where I Stand" is another miss on a well-written song, where the background music sounds like its on Neptune and poor Rosie sounds like she is singing from the vicinity of - say your lap. Such a shame these tunes are flawed by far too much of a good thing. Good thing much of the great stuff here saves the album.

"Tremelo" is a dandy song about a sad musician named after this musical undulation. Toward the end of the disc are the album's highlights that make up for much of the flaws on the rest of the songs. "The Man Downstairs" is a killer story song that silkily and sensuously recalls Bobbie Gentry's "Ode TO Billy Joe" in its sexy and heated delivery. "This Ol' Honky Tonk" rescues the whole album by itself. A haunting and gorgeous waltz about bar-gig life, Rosie says in the notes it was inspired by prince of hardcore country and bar gigs himself, Gary Stewart. Maybe she should listen more to him, because this song is moving, beautiful and inspiring - especially for those of us acquainted with that life.

The odd coda (really can't be a song - it's not 90 seconds long) is 1/2 haunting Roy Orbison and 1/2 more honky tonk link, and by far the best and best working uptempo track on this disc is the recorder's of Sun records tribute "It Came From Memphis."

Since country this hardcore hasn't a snowball's chance in hell on myopic radio these days, all of Rosie's fame and glory pretty much comes from her live shows. Perhaps that means all listenerss should take this flawed, but worthwhile, album merely as a map. A map straight to the next local honky tonk, where surely her live show fulfills her potential as an artist, while this CD, at times, unfortunately only hints at.