"The album: Another name for this album might have been: Songs From Continental Europe. That is the place these songs call home. That is the abstraction from which they are born. However, that title would sorely miss the point of this project. This album is not a destination; it is an unfinished, personal journey. It is a quick flare across borders; both imagined and sturdy. It is the faint sound of the train as it turns the corner, away from well-worn landmarks and cultural filing cabinets. This album is a sequence of questions: Why do the trains keep stopping at the same stations? Why do our musical stories seem to travel in only one direction? Why does our luggage seem so worn, when we actually go nowhere? In the end, the only map one needs is the songs themselves. These songs came to us over a period of years. Some arrived in unmarked parcels, some were heard crackling in the night air. Some of them were rumours and some of them were promises fulfilled. All of them came to us shellacked with coincidence and kindness. We certainly must thank the songwriters, the song-givers, the generous musicians, the recordists, and the translators for helping us to pull this album together. Without them, we would still be waiting for the same old train."
- Chris Eckman, Seattle, March 19, 2000

The Walkabouts' second collection of covers comes with a quite definite theme, a musical tour of Europe, ranging from Greece in the South all the way up to Norway. And it's most definitely a journey, one which suits the darker, more introspective, and very literate nature of this Seattle band. But the ground covered is more than geographic; not many bands could move from Greek icon Mikis Theodorakis to Krautrockers Neu! on the same record. But the Walkabouts, whose career has largely happened in Europe, handle it with aplomb, throwing up plenty of changes in arrangements and working hard to penetrate to the core of a song, even the enigmatic "Solex in a Slipshod Style," on the face of it an odd choice, coming from Dutch sampling queen Solex. A few of the writers might be familiar to Americans, like Jacques Brel and Scott Walker, but the majority of the names will be unknown -- a good thing, since the music can be judged on the interpretation, not the original version. A few famous friends, like R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Los Lobos sax man Steve Berlin add contributions, but it's the band who make it special, with Carla Torgerson's velvety voice caressing the lyrics while Chris Eckman worries his way into others. It might not be the most relaxing journey on offer, but it's one of the most rewarding, a night train across a Europe, not only through the countries, but also the hearts, minds, and souls.

(by Chris Nickson , All Music Guide)