"Wrecking Ball," released in 1995 on Elektra Records, is Emmylou Harris's landmark collaboration with producer Daniel Lanois, who wrapped her voice in atmospheric rock-inflected textures. The guest list includes Steve Earle (guitar), Neil Young (harmony vocals, harmonica — who wrote the title track), Lucinda Williams, the McGarrigle Sisters, and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums). The album won the 1996 Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album and is widely cited as a founding text of the Americana genre — proving that country music's most traditionally grounded voice could anchor avant-garde production without losing the emotional directness that defined her work. Critics consider it one of the decade's most important American albums, a radical departure that paradoxically deepened rather than diluted Harris's artistic identity.
Tracklist
- 1 Where Will I Be 4:16
- 2 Goodbye 4:53
- 3 All My Tears 3:42
- 4 Wrecking Ball 4:49
- 5 Goin' Back to Harlan 4:53
- 6 Deeper Well 4:18
- 7 Every Grain of Sand 3:56
- 8 Sweet Old World 5:06
- 9 May This Be Love 4:45
- 10 Orphan Girl alt version 3:15
- 11 Blackhawk 4:28
- 12 Waltz Across Texas Tonight 4:43
- 13 Still Water (#1) 3:55
- 14 Where Will I Be - Alternate Version 4:14
- 15 All My Tears 3:21
- 16 How Will I Ever Be Simple Again (#1) 3:37
- 17 Deeper Well (#1) 2:18
- 18 The Stranger Song 5:22
- 19 Sweet Old World - Alternate Version 5:26
- 20 Gold 3:16
- 21 Black Hawk - Alternate Version 4:41
- 22 May This Be Love - Acoustic 2:15
- 23 Goin' Back to Harlan 2:36
- 24 Where Will I Be - Alternate Version - Incomplete 2:13
- 25 Deeper Well (#3) 3:04
