smoke, often eclipsed by the prominent horn and keyboard arrangements. But Cale still delivers his messages loud and clear, bemoaning diminishing water resources on the deep bluesy "Stone River" (a song he wrote for the environmental legal defense fund EarthJustice that appeared on 1999's Fish-Tree-Water-Blues compilation), railing against George Bush on the mandolin-dotted "The Problem" ("The man in charge has got to go") and observing the tragedy of the "Homeless" ("I'm not a homeless man/I'm a gypsy") -- and that's when he's at his soulful best.