Album Reviews : Allen’s ‘Remains’: Rich Mix of Musical Settings : *** TERRY ALLEN, “Human Remains”, Sugar Hill

Besides being a first-rate country singer and songwriter, this Lubbock, Texas, native also is an esteemed visual artist and a successful playwright. Perhaps it’s this multifaceted talent that makes his songs so vivid.

This stunning album is a carefully conceived yet casually delivered feast, full of compelling characters, earthy wisdom and no-holds-barred commentary, all communicated in a wealth of rich musical settings.

Allen veers from dysfunctional relationships through life’s tragedies to the hard-won realization of what it takes to navigate life’s dark tunnel--and maybe even how to smile along the way.

The album’s title is double-edged, conjuring images of both dead body parts and that which survives, however battered and torn. This underlying yin-yang keeps the album from sinking into hopelessness or floating away on a cloud of feel-good country.

Like Tom Waits, Allen makes effectively eclectic musical choices--such as the bagpipes and fiddle for the funereal “Little Sandy”--that perfectly complement, frame and intensify his often pithy lyrics.

A magnificent work.

** Diamond Rio, “IV,” Arista. Focus on the sweet, bluegrass-tinged harmonies and you might be able to ignore stock love songs and metaphors stretched farther than the taffy at a county fair. “Is That Asking Too Much” provides a nice break, with its satirical celebration of our insatiable consumer culture. Um . . . it is satire, right?

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).