Billy Bob Thornton

Perhaps he deserves credit for having the guts to make another album after making a fool of himself on 2001’s Private Radio, and the single "Angelina,” turning out to be one of the most embarrassing ironies in music history. But here’s Billy Bob again, trying to convince over the course of (gasp!) 16 tracks that just because he’s from the South, he’s got soul. Listening to The Edge of the World is actually painful after only a few seconds of the opening track, knowing that Thornton has been ignoring his immense acting ability in favour of producing such dreck. No wonder respected roots label Lost Highway dumped him after the first album. Actually, some of the songs, like "The Desperate One,” aren’t half bad, if it wasn’t for Thornton’s lack of any vocal range and feeble attempts at Leonard Cohen-style poetry. For those interested in the fallout from his train wreck marriage to Angelina Jolie, there may be some insights here. However, I didn’t have the tolerance to wait for them to be revealed. This will surely be among the worst albums released this year.