Rhino Records has just reissued five of Emmylou Harris's first six albums (her debut, 1968's Gliding Bird, is the one that's missing), and after spending an evening with them, I'm hard-pressed to find an artist whose work was so consistently strong over a five-year period. I chose Pieces of the Sky to review simply because "Boulder to Birmingham," Harris's tribute to her lover and mentor, country rock pioneer Gram Parsons is my favorite of her songs. But if someone unfamiliar with her work were to pick any of these reissues – in chronological order they are Elite Hotel, Pieces of the Sky, Luxury Liner, Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town, and Blue Kentucky Girl – they'd have a good album as well as an idea of what Harris sounded like early in her career. It's true that because Harris felt the need to satisfy critics who said her music wasn't country enough, Blue Kentucky Girl is a traditional country album, while the others offer an eclectic mix of country and folk rock. But what you're left with after hearing each one is the intricately arranged, impeccably played music and Harris's impossibly gorgeous voice (often overdubbed to provide backing vocals), such an incredible instrument that after I emerge from listening to it, I'm surprised the world hasn't stood still in the interim.