Kevin Costner stars in the History Channel mini-series Hatfields & McCoys and, with his band Modern West, he created the soundtrack as well. They tone down their po-faced Middle American rock -- they've dialed back their
Mellencamp fixations here -- and they ratchet up arty Americana in the vein of
T-Bone Burnett, spending long minutes luxuriating in acoustic guitars and plucked single notes, the music hanging in the air and never gaining momentum. It's arid music for the Modern West and it crawls along at the pace of the extended director's cut of Dances with Wolves, qualities that may make it perfect for a film but makes it somewhat less than compelling as a stand-alone album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine