Joshua Judges Ruth by Lyle Lovett

Joshua Judges Ruth, Lyle Lovett's fourth album, came out on Curb in 1992, and even the title is a wink: it strings together three Old Testament books that sit side by side in the Bible. George Massenburg produced, and the record roams wide, from alt-country to gospel to bluesy rock, with Lovett's dry, deadpan delivery holding it all together.

There's no single concept tying it up, but big subjects keep surfacing: faith on "Church", mortality on "Family Reserve" and "Since the Last Time". As with the rest of his catalog, critics loved it and the mainstream mostly shrugged, though the first single, "You've Been So Good Up to Now", picked up some rock radio play. "Church" is the song the countdowns have held on to.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.