Cowboy Junkies

As a Cowboy Junkies fan also, I think they peaked artistically in the region of Caution Horses and Black Eyed Man. It's been downhill ever since, not precipitously but steadily. The last time I saw them in concert a little over a year ago, I didn't enjoy it much. Sad but that's the way it seems to go; they run out of good ideas and then try to "expand their horizons" or whatever it is they do at that point. Still, their earlier work is exceptional. So I guess my recommendation is to just go in chronological order until you start getting disappointed, then stop. As an aside, get the album "Poet", a tribute to Townes Van Zandt that they do one song on. An excellent album in its own right.

chronological order:
whites off earth now 1986
the trinity sessions 1988*
the caution horses 1990*
black eyed man 1992*
pale sun crescent moon 1993
lay it down 1996*
miles from our home 1998
open 2001

plus:
200 more miles 1995* (double live album, good)
waltz across america 2000 (live album, also good)
the radio one sessions 2002 (bbc studio compilation, also pretty good)
rarities, b-sides and slow, sad waltzes ? (i think this came direct from their website)

* my top five

This is from my collection. Did I miss anything?