The Wilders - 'Someone's Got to Pay'

The Wilders' latest album, Someone's Got to Pay is one of the best songbook/concept albums since Susan Werner's The Gospel Truth last year. Starting with the notion of a murder ballad, the high-octane Kansas City bluegrass quartet multiplied the concept by 19, dedicating an entire collection of songs to all aspects of said murder.

But Does it Work?

In short, yes. The album was composed after songwriter Phil Wade was called up for jury duty. Using that inspiration and the vehicles of old timey fiddle tunes, blues songs, hard rock tunes (with bluegrass instruments), and straight-up bluegrass, the Wilders knock out a splendid collection of songs like chapters in a murder mystery novel.

The album kicks off with a series of instrumental tunes that go from celebration to drunkenness, curiosity, anger and despair, musically tracking the "murder" without uttering a single word. Then it's time for the trial, where the line, "Hey there judge, let me off this old jury / I can't bear to hear another word," repeats in many of the songs.

An Album-Long Murder Ballad

There's a song dedicated to the prosecution, one dedicated to the jury, one for the defense, one where the criminal is telling his now-murdered wife how much he loves her and he's sorry. There's a closing statement and a final plea, a sentencing song...and in between the entire narration are instrumentals driven mostly by the exquisite fiddle playing of Ms. Betse Ellis.

The whole story is summed up in this line from "Sittin on a Jury: The Defense": "Grief is a sickness and when he pulled the trigger, I contend that poor boy lost his mind." When the album allows the "criminal" to sing, the songs are full of veiled grief and longing, very little regret.

The Bottom Line

The Wilders nailed the entire story of this elongated murder ballad, from the opening instrumental "Collard Greens" (download from Amazon) to the criminal's send-off song "Goodbye" (download from Amazon) Allowing themselves to step out of the confines of contemporary and traditional bluegrass, they dipped their songs in everything from classic 70s-style rock to country blues and subdued piano-driven downer songs.

It can be difficult to pull off a concept album of this length and breadth without overdoing it or getting cheesy. The Wilders, however, managed to pull it off. The result is a truly remarkable story-album that's not to be missed.