Recorded in 2007 and produced by roots rock and blues musician Ry Cooder, it is a concept album with lyrical themes relating to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

[13] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian praised her performance, stating "Staples is magnificent… Her voice is in tatters by the closing 'Jesus Is On the Mainline', and the memory lingers long after those ragged final notes".

[14] Jon Pareles of The New York Times called the album "bluesy, unvarnished, gutsy and knowing", and he described its music as "righteous, not self-righteous, and never far from roots in the Mississippi mud".

[7] However, PopMatters writer Lester Feder expressed that its "musical sophistication" can overshadow Staples's lyrics, stating "the album’s sound is so easy on the ears that it is extremely tempting to let it drown out the challenging sentiments of her words".

[2][9] Jim DeRogatis of the latter publication wrote that Staples "infuses the material with a passion and urgency undiminished by the passing of time",[2] and he discussed the relevance of the album's themes to current events, stating: In many corners, from grammar school social studies classes to the studio occupied until only recently by Don Imus, the Civil Rights movement of the early '60s is ancient history.

[2]The Washington Post's Bill Friskics-Warren shared a similar sentiment in his review, writing "Staples reinvests… with the moral authority to speak to social and economic injustices that persist today" and "rarely have 'remakes' sounded so tonic or inspired".