John Prine - Sweet Revenge (Rhino Reserve)

John Prine's Sweet Revenge returns as part of the Rhino Reserve line, a limited, audiophile 180 gram pressing of the songwriter's sharp-witted 1973 album.

His third record found Prine loosening up after two acclaimed folk albums, working again with producer Arif Mardin and cutting most of it in Nashville with a fuller band behind him. The sessions even brought in call-and-response vocals from Cissy Houston and friends, a gospel-tinged swagger that set the tone for a looser, funnier and more confident Prine. He later said it grew out of frustration with his second album's reception, and that defiance shows.

Dear Abby, captured live in front of a delighted audience, is a deadpan gem built around letters to the famous advice columnist, delivered with a grin you can hear. Christmas in Prison turns loneliness into something achingly beautiful, while Please Don't Bury Me imagines giving away every body part with gloriously morbid good cheer. Grandpa Was a Carpenter sketches a family portrait in a handful of loving, perfectly chosen details.

This audiophile edition gives the acoustic guitars and Prine's warm, crooked voice a lovely sense of presence in the room. For anyone who prizes songwriting above all else, it is a quiet treasure that only gets better with time.