Includes 5 previously unreleased tracks.

Son Volt: Dave Boquist (guitar, lap steel guitar, dobro, banjo, violin); Jim Boquist (bass instrument); Mike Heidorn (drums, percussion); Jay Farrar.

Personnel: Jay Farrar (vocals, guitar, dulcimer, harmonica, keyboards); Kelly Willis (vocals); Dave Boquist (guitar, lap steel guitar, dobro, banjo, violin); Dan Newton (accordion); Jim Boquist (piano, background vocals); Michael Heidorn (drums, percussion); John Maloney (drums).

Audio Mixers: Brian Paulson; Keith Keller; Jay Farrar; Christopher Williams; David Barbe; Jack Joseph Puig; John Agnello; Mark Haines ; Mike Martin; Peter Coleman.

Audio Remasterers: Dan Hersch; Bill Inglot.

Liner Note Author: Ed Ward .

Recording information: Acoustic Cafe, Ann Arbor, MI; Chez Flames, New Orleans, LA; Echo Park, Blooomington, IN; Emerald Sound Studios, Nashville, TN; Jajouka Studio, Millstadt, IL; Pachyderm Studio, Cannon Falls, MN; Salmagundi, Northfield, MN; Sixteenth Avenue Sound; Solid Sound Studios, Ann Arbor, MI; WXPN Studios, Philadelphia, PA.

Photographer: Peter Grant .

The seminal alt-country band Uncle Tupelo seemed poised on the verge of a major commercial breakthrough in 1994 when, to the surprise of many (including his bandmates), Jay Farrar quit the band to form Son Volt, in which he wouldn't have to share his creative vision with another songwriter. Son Volt's first album, 1995's Trace, was a beautiful and striking set of songs whose emotional power and soulful resonance suggested Farrar had made a shrewd choice in going out on his own. Then a funny thing happened -- Son Volt made two more albums that were solid and heartfelt but nowhere near as satisfying as Trace, and in 2000 Farrar put the group on hiatus, preferring to record and tour under his own name with a shifting set of musicians. In whittling Son Volt's history down to one disc and 20 songs, one might expect that A Retrospective: 1995-2000 would play to the genuine strengths of their body of work, but instead this compilation does as much to point to the group's flaws. A Retrospective peaks with its first four tracks -- three songs from Trace and a duet with Kelly Willis on Townes Van Zandt's "Rex's Blues," recorded for a benefit compilation. From that point on, much as Son Volt's second album got stuck in a mid-tempo rut that it never quite escaped, A Retrospective captures the sound of Farrar calling up the same beautifully sad late night vibe over and over again, with only the occasional rocker happening along to break the monotony (and anyone who saw Son Volt live knows they were a band who could rock out powerfully when the mood struck them) and Mike Heidorn, Jim Boquist, and Dave Boquist struggling to add weight and muscle to Farrar's increasingly similar songs. Fans will doubtless be drawn by the wealth of rare and unreleased material included (including a pair of home-recorded demos, some hard to find covers, and live radio recordings), but while there are a few glorious moments on A Retrospective, too much of this collection captures the sound of a major artist stuck in third gear, and that's certainly not the way this disc needed to sound. (Ironically, a new Son Volt album, Okemah and the Melody of Riot, was released two months after this compilation appeared, though Farrar was the only member of the original lineup to participate in Son Volt 2.0.) ~ Mark Deming

Just because Wilco ended up getting all the press and the Jim O'Rourke hipster cred, that doesn't mean Son Volt should remain forever destined to be the "other" Uncle Tupelo spin-off band. In fact, hardcore UT fans should feel a strong attachment to the latter, as they stayed closer to the spirit of Tupelo's post-modern country-rock. RETROSPECTIVE does an excellent job of chronicling the group's first five years. All the key tracks from the first three albums are here, from the surprisingly heavy rock of the breakout hit "Drown" to the acoustic-guitar-and-pedal-steel lilt of "Creosote." Most attractive to Son Volt aficionados, though, will be the wealth of rare and previously unreleased tracks. There's a wide variety of cover tunes, with sources including Big Star (the funereal "Holocaust"), Leadbelly (an oddly elegiac "Ain't No More Cane"), and Bruce Springsteen (a countrified "Open All Night"). Equally compelling are SV leader Jay Farrar's solo acoustic demos of his own tunes "Tear Stained Eye" and "Loose String." An essential document of the mid-1990s alt-country renaissance, this collection makes a strong case for Son Volt as that movement's vanguard.

Dirty Linen (p.65) - "There's no denying Son Volt's influence within alternative country circles, and RETROSPECTIVE does a good job of documenting the band's contribution to the scene between 1995 and 2000."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.120) - 3 stars out of 5 - "This set offers an excellent overview of their first three albums, while adding some nice odds and ends..."