Earle's second album would be one of only two, that I can see, credited to him and his longtime backing band The Dukes, the other being 1990's "The hard way". It's shown on Wiki as being "similar in sound to his debut" but for me that's not the case. I find "Exit 0" much more a rock record, showing the direction he was already beginning to push in and would crossover to on albums like "Copperhead Road" and the aforementioned "The hard way". Sure it has some Country tracks on it, and as I already mentioned Steve never abandoned his Country roots, but I feel it's a far tighter, harder and rockier album than the debut.
Exit 0 (1987) produced by Tony Brown, Emory Gordy Jr and Richard Bennett on the MCA label
Pushing again the idea of being stuck in a one-horse town, the sleeve cover and indeed the title of the album echo that sense of being trapped, as I'm not totally sure there is such a thing as an exit zero? But I'm not American and I don't drive on freeways --- or at all --- so I couldn't say for sure. But I think it's a kind of allergorical reference to the road to nowhere, the idea of being unable to get out and free yourself from the constraints of the small town you may have grown up in.
1. Nowhere road (2:27) --- And addressing that very problem is the opener, a boppy, upbeat Country song that sings of the sometimes almost futiity of trying to escape --- "Leaves you lonely and cold", Earles sings plaintively, "Standing on the shoulder, but you've come too far to go back home, so you're walkin' down a nowhere road." Although uptempo it's a bleak enough track to open with, and definitely captures the frustration of a man who wants to leave his small hometown behind, knowing there's more out there. It's the first of four collaborations on the album, this one with Reno Kling.
2. Sweet little 66 (2:38) --- A rocky track on a favourite subject for rock, and Country, singers: a car. Basically this just talks about his car (Chevy?) and how great it is. It's fun but ultimately throwaway.
3. No. 29 (3:30) --- Aw Steve! If "Little rock'n' roller" was a cliched ballad on the debut, this is just terrible! The tragic story of a high-school football player who gets injured and can no longer play in the "number 29" position. Very dreary, with a lot of steel geetar, drenched in self-pity and recrimination, and replete with terms that anyone who has no interest in American Football will understand, or want to. The first ballad, and yes I hate it.
4. Angry young man (4:24) --- Ah, now we're getting somewhere! Earle teams up with John Porter McMeans (whoever he may be!) and does his best Springsteen, with harmonica and teenage angst, the rebel without a cause on the run as he grits "Momma you never could understand, ain't no peace for an angry young man!" Slowish but not a ballad, punchy and powerful and a real rock track, kind of reminds me of "Promised land" by the Boss, but in a good way.
5. San Antonio girl (3:30) --- Pure rockin' fun; with a name like that you don't have to guess too hard as to what this song is about. Driven on a sprightly organ line from Ken Moore and honky-tonky piano from John Jarvis, it's just, well, fun, with no special message other than love and havin' fun. Sandwiched as it is between the fist-pumpin' "Angry young man" and the track that follows it's perfectly placed.
6. The rain came down (4:11) --- Steve's first really political song on the album, it's another angry rocker seemingly centred around farmers being pushed off their lands by greedy developers, with a snarling warning "Don't you come around here with your auctioneer's plans cause you can have the machines but you ain't takin' my land!" You can just see Earle, under a court order of eviction, cocking his shotgun and standing belligerently at his gate, daring the bailiffs to try to take his property. More great harmonica and some powerful guitar, all driven along by thunderous drumming. Steve co-wrote this with Michael Woody.
7. I ain't ever satisfied (4:00) --- Something that would be a recurring problem in many of Earle's albums is that at some point, usually about the midway or slightly past it, the songs just get very generic and predictable, and the fine body of work from the first part is often not matched by what follows it, making many of his albums somewhat hit-and-miss. This crops up in "Exit 0" too, with this track being okay, a good rocker, with a lot of fun and some nice vocal harmonies, but distinctly lightweight compared to "The rain came down" or "Angry young man". Filler.
8. The week of living dangerously (4:26) --- With a beat that reminds me of, of all things, "Footloose", this is a fun song that drives along at a good lick, detailing the hazards of a lost weekend in Mexico. Sort of a mix of Country and rock, it's, well, fun. That's all I can say about it. I do like it, and it's not quite filler, but it's not "A" material either.
9. I love you too much (3:37) --- High-octane, heads-down-let's-have-a-good-time barnstormer, but again nothing too fancy. Sort of harks back to the often rockabilly influences on "Guitar Town", and is generally a love song, though without question not a ballad.
10. It's all up to you (5:52) --- Another collaboration, this time with Harry Stinson, Earle manages to pull it out of the fire at the last moment with a heart-wrenching ballad that owes rather a lot to "My old friend the blues" from the previous album. With great pedal steel and a powerful line in percussion, as well as some superb guitar work, it's a perfect closer for the album. Just a pity so much of the music that precedes it is, by comparison, quite substandard.
Again, like the debut, nobody is going to listen to "Exit 0" and have an epiphany. Even his third album, through which I got into the artist, has many flaws. It wouldn't be till much later that Earle would write some pretty perfect albums. But there's certainly enough here to show the beginnings of a real talent, and songs like "San Antonio girl", "The rain came down" and "It's all up to you" give some clue as to where his writing would go, and how it would blossom into a successful career for the young musician from Texas.