His co-write with Guy and Susanna Clark on "Ain't It Funny How Love'll Do Ya" is one of the most convincing vocal performances Coe ever recorded, ranking with "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile" and "Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)”…The conviction in his voice is so present, it almost cracks, but he never quite allows himself to lose control.

"A Boy Named Sue" songwriter Shel Silverstein contributes three songs, including "Someplace to Come When It Rains", which gets a sensitive reading from Coe, and the parting-of-the-ways tune "If You Ever Think of Me", which the pair composed together.

The opener, "Rose Knows", is the classic cheating tale filled with the paranoia of a man dreading that his wife is suspicious of his trysts, while the Bobby David-Ray Kennedy tune "The Purple Heart", which Sherrill infuses with the classic "Ray Price shuffle", uses war as a metaphor to show the bitterness and heartbreak of a love gone sour.

Coe plays it straight on the song, which was written by Wynette and Sherrill, and is heartfelt and moving, taking on a new meaning in a man's voice - more of a plea than a declaration.

AllMusic wrote: "From top to bottom, Invictus Means Unconquered towers above most country records not only of the era, but of all time.