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=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer on April 19, 2006, 09:37:00 am
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This one had me simultaneously giggling and scratching my head...
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/19/072147.php (http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/19/072147.php)
I've heard Drive-By Truckers mentioned a few times before and have wondered about their sound, so when El Bicho passed this one off to me I thought it might be an alright recording. Not so much, I think as I write this, not that it's a bad album or that they're a bad band it's just that they don't move me. They do have their highlights but they are too few and far between for me to fully enjoy this album.
Track one "Feb 14," opens with a good beat and heavy guitar twang, sounds like it could lead to something; then we hear the lead vocalist and from there the song starts to lose me. The title has potential but this one falls short for me and is now another reason not to dig said date. The third track "Easy On Yourself" is the first number that caught my attention. The guitar work is solid and the drums are rocking, the lyrics and vocals come together well here, and the vocalists on this track I like a whole lot better than the guy on "Feb 14."
Tracks four and five are two more highlights from the eleven on this disk, so along with track nine that brings my grand total to four. Kind of says something right there. "Aftermath USA" is an Eagles-inspired number complete with harmony background vocals. The lyrics and vocals are okay but just don't get me going, even with lines about "crystal meth in the bathtub."
"Goodbye" is a slow, country number with a steady beat to keep it moving and the guitar soars once again here. The use of curses such as "God damn it/I swear to you I tried" again just don't work for me and sound forced. Oh and trust me I'm not against cussing and cursing in songs of any sort. But for most bands I dig, these phrases and words are used to highlight a point and usually come across well, yet here I just don't dig the vocal delivery of it.
Jumping to track nine and what to me is the best track on this album "Space City," a solid country tune with good, strong lyrics, acoustic guitars and a solid drum thump. "It is a slow tune that's hits hard, carried well by its vocals and simple yet heartfelt lyrics, which is why this number is the band's shining moment for me. Maybe it's because I'm reminded of Cowboy Nation on this track, with its honest, straightforward country, back-to-basics sound.
From nine we move to ten, the title track "A Blessing and A Curse" and what starts out to be a damn good song (see there it is, told you I'd use it too. I used it to highlight the fact that this track could have saved the entire album for me). The drums kick this one off and are quickly followed by good guitar playing and a solid bass drive. They kick it up a few notches and we expect to them fly. For a solid minute and fifteen seconds I was into this tune, heavily thinking that this CD was going to kick ass in its final three songs, but it was not to be so.
As soon as the lead singer put his mouth to the mic I was done. The band continues to rock behind him but the vocal mixture of Glenn Frey meets Perry Farrell just doesn't jive with me; no offense to Glenn or Perry both whom I like. Even my girlfriend (who's a big Eagles fan) winced and this kitten's only just recently been exposed to the country/rock sound.
The final track, "A World Of Hurt," is a talking country blues tune about the disadvantage of suicide and how it's not always the best option. Yet again, it just doesn't stand out for me. Nice try though; if they can stop one of their fans from going down that road, then good for them.
The Drive-By Truckers are not a bad band and as I've mentioned before, they do have their moments; yet as a whole there is not too much that stands out about them or which would lead me to want to rush out and get this disk. They sound too much like what's already out there and some of the vocals are far too close to the whole whiny vocals that are taking over modern rock. They fall just short of what seems to be their goal of outlaws of country music or "saviors of rock 'n' roll" as I have heard said about this band.
As for outlaw country, I'll turn to my personal favorite and a true country musician who deserves a lot more attention than he gets, Mr. Dale Watson and for country/rock 'n' roll I recommend Jesse Dayton and his Road Kings. Hit their web sites to find their music. 'nuff said.
This writer is a member of The Masked Movie Snobs.
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I don't know, he kinda makes a point. Patterson Hood's vocals aren't for everyone, and he does have a recent history of writing and singing some downright bad songs (like nearly every song of his on The Dirty South).
I wouldn't be suprised if he's the vocalist to which this critic is rerfering, and I'd be disapointed with this album if he did a majority of the songs on it.
Has anyone here heard the album yet to confirm this?
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Originally posted by Alex:
I don't know, he kinda makes a point. Patterson Hood's vocals aren't for everyone, and he does have a recent history of writing and singing some downright bad songs (like nearly every song of his on The Dirty South).
I wouldn't be suprised if he's the vocalist to which this critic is rerfering, and I'd be disapointed with this album if he did a majority of the songs on it.
Has anyone here heard the album yet to confirm this?
Patterson has always sung the majority of songs on record.
Isbell is a relatively new addition. And Cooley always had a few.
I know what he's talking about with the song Blessing & Curse. It's starts like it could be one of their best. It's not that Hood's vocal are bad - they just don't seem to fit. He's got different styles - including this falsetto that he's growing fond of. I'm not so fond.
After just a couple listens - I agree with the consensus of reviews it's getting:
http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/drivebytruckers/blessingandacurse (http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/drivebytruckers/blessingandacurse)
Good - but not great. Definitely a kinder gentler DBT. Must be the influence of them dang wimmens.
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it's just horribly horribly written, completely painful to get through ... i just question why someone who writes this poorly would want to publish their stuff, it's pretty embarrassing
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Exactly my thoughts. Both what he is saying and how it is said. Aftermath USA sounding like the Eagles? C'mon that's fucking crazy. And Patterson being a cross between Perry Farrell and Glen Frey Hahaha.
Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
it's just horribly horribly written, completely painful to get through ... i just question why someone who writes this poorly would want to publish their stuff, it's pretty embarrassing
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I downloaded it from iTunes about an hour ago. After a few listens, I really like it, and I too have to laugh at this review. And Patterson's vocals and songwriting are much much improved from The Dirty South, back to his older style. While it's not spectacular, it's still really good and I think this is going to be a fun album for the Summer.
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The guy can't write for shit. But at least he has an appreciation for Dale Watson and Jesse Dayton.
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Weâ??ve probably posted worst reviews, but this guyâ??s writing is pretty bad. A bunch of typos, and he keeps referring to personal preferences, as if this is about him and not the CD. And why wouldnâ??t he mention Patterson Hood by name? The Truckers are a big enough entity â?? as Hood is in his own right â?? to warrant a little more research into the band and their history/sound. And for him to name check other artists who are arguably more obscure, it sounds like the writer was just lazy, and skipped the research purposely.
And he hit my biggest personal peeve, acknowledging he know little to nothing about the band from the get-go. HATE that, and I donâ??t understand why people need to point this out. Because you can one, do the research and learn about the band so that you can speak with some intelligence, or two, speak to the CD specifically as an island (which this writer did), but do it in a way that doesnâ??t make you seem like you know nothing and wrote the review on your lunch break (which this writer didnâ??t).
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I was concerned for a second that their would be a link to a BigYawn review in this thread :-)
But than i realized we probably haven't reviewed anything Rhett would care about in a couple weeks.
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Well said, mr. redsock.
Originally posted by redsock:
Weâ??ve probably posted worst reviews, but this guyâ??s writing is pretty bad. A bunch of typos, and he keeps referring to personal preferences, as if this is about him and not the CD. And why wouldnâ??t he mention Patterson Hood by name? The Truckers are a big enough entity â?? as Hood is in his own right â?? to warrant a little more research into the band and their history/sound. And for him to name check other artists who are arguably more obscure, it sounds like the writer was just lazy, and skipped the research purposely.
And he hit my biggest personal peeve, acknowledging he know little to nothing about the band from the get-go. HATE that, and I donâ??t understand why people need to point this out. Because you can one, do the research and learn about the band so that you can speak with some intelligence, or two, speak to the CD specifically as an island (which this writer did), but do it in a way that doesnâ??t make you seem like you know nothing and wrote the review on your lunch break (which this writer didnâ??t).
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This topic got me thinking....why should anyone give a toss about reviews, be it albums, movies, plays, books, restaurants or whatever??? I couldn't give a crap what you think, and have my own mind to decide wether it's a good piece of work or not....so go fuck yourelf and your opinion. :mad:
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Because critics tend to have more knowledge and more evolved taste due to greater exposure than the general public. I think the more you listen to music, the more refined your tastes become. Thus, I'm more likely to trust a critics advice than I am the advice of an acquaintance. Of course, I'm most likely to trust my own tastes, but reading reviews helps make me aware of music that perhaps I wouldn't otherwise have been aware of.
Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
This topic got me thinking....why should anyone give a toss about reviews, be it albums, movies, plays, books, restaurants or whatever??? I couldn't give a crap what you think, and have my own mind to decide wether it's a good piece of work or not....so go fuck yourelf and your opinion. :mad:
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Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
This topic got me thinking....why should anyone give a toss about reviews, be it albums, movies, plays, books, restaurants or whatever??? I couldn't give a crap what you think, and have my own mind to decide wether it's a good piece of work or not....so go fuck yourelf and your opinion. :mad:
I agree with the essence of what you are saying but I strongly disagree with approaching these (music, movies, books, etc.) COLD.
Most of what is marketed @ you is crap. Utter garbage. See summer movies, pop music, best sellers.
Life is too short & expensive to read bad books & listen to bad music.
Use Meta-Critic to at least get an overall feel for it's WORTH. It compiles a consensus of ALL available reviews & provides a good barometer.
http://www.metacritic.com/ (http://www.metacritic.com/)
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i know there was another thread out there about the new DBT album, but i couldn't track it down ...
i liked it, but there weren't any songs that grabbed me by the balls like "Carl Perkins Cadillac" or something like that ... hood seems obsessed with the irony of huntsville's NASA connection and the poverty that surrounds the area, i think one song was enough buddy! and the first one ("Putting People on the Moon") was 10x better!
but i think i'm just jaded by how great some of their previous albums were, there isn't a single song on the new one that i wouldn't want to hear again, they're all solid ... definitely 4 out of 5 stars
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I have never listened to these guys, but just bought the record...from what I've heard, it's pretty solid. So if this album is good, I guess their others are pretty great too? Should I get the Dirty South next?
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Originally posted by bearman:
I have never listened to these guys, but just bought the record...from what I've heard, it's pretty solid. So if this album is good, I guess their others are pretty great too? Should I get the Dirty South next?
"the dirty south" and "decoration day" both have really solid songs ... it's tough to choose between the two, especially because "decoration day" is the first thing i heard by them, but "the dirty south" probably wins out for me in the long run ... can't go wrong with either, though
but i might suggest that you get "southern rock opera" next ... it's sprawling (2 CD), and there's monologues and some preachiness, but it's a fantastic introduction to their worldview (skynyrd infatuation, southern upbringing) and there are still plenty of succint, rocking songs ("let there be rock", "dead drunk and naked", etc)
definitely one of my favorite bands ... i really don't understand why they're not embraced more by mainstream rock, they have a really accessible sound and a very "salt of the earth" message
oh, "pizza deliverance" and "gangstabilly" are both good, but just not on the same level as their more recent stuff
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No seriously (http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6000)
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if you're a glutton for punishment click and read the dudes other reviews
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No seriously (http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6000)
with bloggers like that out there, no wonder joe has such horrible taste in music.
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Did this fool know that he was supposed to be doing an album review?
Oh, wait. Someone has an antenna hooked up to their radio/MP3 player. Maybe we can tune into police bands and the cell phones of passing motorists. Then we can write about them for the new (band name) album and how they harmonize with the melodies. A new kind of Random Rap music.
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I could have shortened this review:
"Seriously the Drive by truckers are a terrible, terrible band and I don't know why anyone would bother listening to anything they put out"
But I agree what a previous poster posted. Why would you ever read an album review? Written word can not describe music. And you can download or listen to anything you want for free so why not do that instead of reading something from someone who either has an agenda, wants to look cool, wants to agree with what every one else is saying or just has diffferent taste than you?
Radiohead "In Rainbows" has to be proof that. Great reviews everywhere but I can't think of an album I think less of.
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Yeah, and why bother reading the newspaper? Its just a lot of stories about the Supreme Court and shit. You wanna know about the Supreme Court? Then go to law school, secure a good clerkship, spend ten years at a firm, elevate to judgeship, be nominated to a federal bench and then 20 years later, get nominated to the highest court in the land. I mean, pbbst, its not rocket science and you don't get to the Supreme Court by bleedin' reading. Well, apart from all those law cases and stuff. Just go out and live life and get to the Supreme Court all by yourself.
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here's hoping you can download yourself for free into the supreme court . . . otherwise, nobody will want to do it.
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As a former author of LP reviews, I'd disagree. When I was about 14 years old I was trying to figure out what to spend my limited money on, album reviews often were helpful. Later on I realized I didn't always agree with them, but once upon a time they helped me discover a LOT of great music. Nowadays, all you need to do is hop online to hear music instead of going to a store to buy it. I still sometimes read reviews because if a writer does it well, their opinion does count for something in my book. Sometimes reviews have useful information. Maybe the author had access to details about how the record came together, or what sorts of obstacles were there in the recording process. This reviewer, however, is tragic.
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it's hard to believe this is the same website that reviewed Univers Zero.
the Corin Tucker Band review is just as bad:
http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6010
No seriously (http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6000)
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Dusted is great over all. It's just that that one reviewer is a joke. Their reviews far surpass the crap on that other site 19 times out of 20.
I actually meant to bump a different "worst review of an album ever" thread that I started years ago.