Phases and Stages

Most breakup albums are admired for delving into the heartbreak of the author — an exercise that can obscure the truth of why the breakup happened in the first place. Willie Nelson, on the other hand, is a master of nuanced songwriting, lulling listeners in with That Voice and keeping them around long enough for them to start wanting to dig deeper. His masterwork is Phases and Stages, a breakup album that devotes one side to a long-suffering wife who walks out on her husband and the other to the dumbstruck, ultimately resigned-in-his-inability-to-change husband. While the arrangements range from relaxed (“Walkin,” “It’s Not Supposed To Be That Way”) to playful (“Pick Up The Tempo,” “No Love Around”) the lyrical mood is cutting and empathetic to both sides of the doomed relationship. An underappreciated conceptual masterpiece.