Elite Hotel [Extra tracks] [Original recording remastered]

The slow songs encompass a variety of styles: Sin City a gentle ballad with lovely male harmonising; One Of These Days, a number 3 hit on the country charts, is a lilting mid tempo ballad, whilst Till I Gain Control Again showcases Emmylou's interpretative skills to their best on his sensitive and evocative love song.

Lennon/McCartney's Here, There And Everywhere receive a subdued, mellow treatment, whilst Sweat Dreams, another country chart topper, is fragile and soulful. The most spiritual moment on the album is the moving Satan's Jewel Crown, a song that is up there in her repertoire with transcendent masterpieces like My Songbird and Calling My Children Home.

Besides Amarillo, the fast rockers include the rowdy Feelin' Single Seein' Double, the catchy and propulsive Ooh Las Vegas with its impressive playing, the lilting live recording of Jambalaya and the soaring mid tempo ballad Wheels, a duet with Jonathan Edwards. Full of yearning and acceptance, it is one of the most memorable road songs in any musical genre.

The two bonus tracks tie in perfectly with the mood of the album. The stirring ballad You're Running Wild is a duet with Rodney Crowell, whilst the buoyant Cajun Born is an energetic number from the same tradition as Jambalaya. They're both great songs that enhance an already brilliant album.

The most gripping moments on this album, in my opinion, are Together Again, Sin City, Till I Gain Control Again, Satan's Jewel Crown and Wheels. But Elite Hotel is as beautiful and essential as Pieces Of The Sky, Cowgirl's Prayer, Blue Kentucky Girl, Cimarron and Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town.

This album contains many covers but other singers have recorded covers of the original songs included here, so this is a very influential album. Rhino re-released this album with two extra tracks (You're running wild, Cajun born) but I haven't heard these tracks. The album is worth buying just for the original twelve tracks on which my review focuses.

The original songs include Amarillo (a rousing up-tempo song that Kathy Mattea covered for her album, Lonesome standard time), Feeling single seeing double (another up-tempo song - this one has been covered by Chely Wright for her album, Let me in) and Till I gain control again (a lovely ballad since covered by several singers including Crystal Gayle, who had a country number one hit with it, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson).

Three of the covers are of Gram Parsons songs - Sin city, Ooh Las Vegas and Wheels. Other covers include Jambalaya (a Hank Williams song that became a pop hit for Jo Stafford at the time and later became a pop hit for the Carpenters), Here there and everywhere (which became a UK pop hit for Emmylou) and two songs that became country number one hits for Emmylou - Together again (Buck Owens) and Sweet dreams (the Don Gibson song normally associated with Patsy Cline).

So this is a very strong album, with or without the Rhino bonus tracks. If you are interested in building a collection of Emmylou's original albums, this one should certainly be on your list of albums to buy.