Anodyne

Brian Paulson produced, engineered and mixed. Per Wikipedia it was recorded live, one take per song, with no overdubbing, in reaction to the layered sound of the earlier records; a November 1993 Request feature puts the sessions at about two weeks. The band met Doug Sahm on tour in Boston, and he sang lead on his own "Give Back the Key to My Heart". Lloyd Maines played pedal steel, Joe Ely and Brian Henneman guested, and Max Johnston's fiddle and the five-piece band let Tweedy play guitar on his songs. The 2003 reissue adds "Stay True", "Wherever" and Waylon Jennings's "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way", sung by Ely.

It had no single and sold more than 150,000 copies. AllMusic gave it 4.5 stars, Rolling Stone and Uncut 4, and NME 9 of 10; Greg Kot called it their finest effort. Paste ranked it first on a 2016 list of the best alt-country albums, and it is in Tom Moon's 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.