This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
On his first CD Private Radio, roots rocker and actor Billy Bob Thornton sang about wearing his wife Angelina Jolie’s underwear. Guess what the gruff-voiced (and newly divorced) troubadour sings about on his harder-edged followup The Edge of the World? That’s right — it’s payback time.
“One day your face will fade,” he snipes, presumably at you-know-who, on the title cut. “Someday there’ll be no parade / And you’ll see what life can bring.” Take that, Ms. Freaky Lips. Ultimately, though, like many a dumped dude, Billy Bob drowns his sorrows with the help of old friends and loud music. Everyone from honky-tonk man Marty Stuart and studio rat Daniel Lanois to rock guitar god Joe Walsh and the late Warren Zevon drops by to play or sing a lick or two on this strong 16-song set dominated by rangy, twangy rockers like Emily and Island Avenue and earthy, confessional ballads like Pieces Of A Man and The Desperate One. Yeah, some of those tracks are probably about her, too. But at least they’re not about her gonch.
