If you'd have told me one day that there would be a new Glen Campbell album that features a brand new Paul Westerberg song, not to mention the guitar work of Billy Corgan and Rick Nielsen, I'd have probably looked at you like you were crazy.
Despite the mix of rockers making a variety of contributions to what is being billed as Glen Campbell's final album, Ghost On The Canvas turns out to be one of the more focused and cohesive albums of Campbell's long and storied career.
Westerberg, of course, contributed the song "Ghost On The Canvas", with The Wallflowers' Jakob Dylan and Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard each contributing a song as well.
Of course, the album's "Chicago connection" is the stunning ballad, "There's No Me...Without You", which features both Billy Corgan and Rick Nielsen on guitar.
The list of special guests goes on, with the Dandy Warhols providing musical support on "Strong" and Chris Isaak, Dick Dale, and Brian Setzer driving the album's most upbeat track, "In My Arms".
Props go out to producer Julian Raymond for making such disparate pieces work so well together. What could have been a glorious trainwreck ends up being an album that never sounds like anything more than a Glen Campbell album even the most tried-and-true Campbell fan will embrace because, ultimately, it is Campbell who shines the brightest.