Profile magazine (Wal-Mart music/electronics publication)

Individually, they are three of the most influential and distinctive vocal stylists. Together as Trio, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton delivered a milestone album in 1987 that became a country standard. The original Trio album won Grammy, Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music Awards, going platinum in the process.

The songbirds have returned with Trio II, a CD that carries on what is certain to be a legacy. They also defy the aging process, by not including any recent photos in the disc's artwork. However, when you hear Ronstadt wail "Blue Train," you quickly recall the cut-off denim/exposed midriff look she favored in the '70s. (Yes, she preceded Shania by 20-plus years.) For Ronstadt, this is truly a return to her roots, and clearly shows how much she's been missed on radio since she ventured into orchestral pop, mariachi music, etc.

Harris is the centrepiece on the gorgeous Irish ballad "You'll Never Be The Sun" and on the Parton composition "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind."

Parton's soprano is Trio's focus on the traditional-sounding "He Rode All The Way To Texas," and she also takes the lead on a cover of Neil Young's "AfterThe Goldrush." Somehow, she makes this cleaned-up piece of psychedelia work, even if it is hard to imagine Dolly "lying in a burned out basement," as the lyrics suggest.

Thanks, Brad!