Drive By Truckers - Decoration Day
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CD Details
Artist: Drive By TruckersEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2003-06-17
Music Label: New West Records
Soundtracks:
- The Deeper In
- Sink Hole
- Hell No, I AinĀ?t Happy
- Marry Me
- My Sweet Annette
- Outfit
- Heathens
- Sounds Better In The Song
- (Something's Got To) Give Pretty Soon
- Your Daddy Hates Me
- Careless
- When The Pin Hits The Shell
- Do It Yourself
- Decoration Day
- Loaded Gun In The Closet
Music reviews of Decoration Day
Music Review: Got to respect great songwriting wrapped up in a theme
Rating: 3 Stars
The term "Southern Rock" is often a loaded term. Southern Rock involves the heavy use of the guitar and often combines imagery from the "Deep South". Southern Rock can refer to a variety of different styles and has also undergone several evolutions over the years. Technically one can consider pioneer Rockers Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to have their roots in Southern Rock. The Allman Brothers used the guitar-based roots of Southern Rock and went in a blues direction. The band largely responsible for revolutionizing Southern Rock is Lynryd Skynyrd. Lynryd Skynyrd's sound was largely based on heavy use of the guitar. They boasted what was known as a "triple guitar lineup". Following a tragic plane crash that took the life of their lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant - Lynryd Skynryd split up (although they did do some reunion concerts). Their impact was not lost in the Southern Rock world as other bands and artists like Molly Hatchet, The Georgia Satellites, and 38 Special would continue to help Southern Rock flourish. But one cannot deny that Lynryd Skynryd still as "The Beatles" of all Southern Rock bands. Many were influenced by them. In the late 1990s, a Southern Rock band began to emerge called "Drive By Truckers". This band slowly began to build up a fan base. This culminated with their 2001 album called "Southern Rock Opera". This album was a concept album that basically serves a musical A lot of this album focused around the legacy of Lynryd Skynyrd. It gained the Drive By Truckers a place on the musical landscape. Expectations were set high when they would release their follow-up album, "Decoration Day".
Part of my curiousity with the Drive By Truckers was that they did do a concept album. I've seen the success and quality of concept albums - namely Pete Townshend's approach to it. A concept album can prove to be as valuable a piece of entertainment as anything. So, since the Drive By Truckers went down this route, I immediately gained respect for them. "Decoration Day" isn't quite the concept album that "Southern Rock Opera" was, but it still is a theme based album. The theme is a "dark theme". From the cover of the CD, through many of the lyrics, through many of the songs - this deals with a "dark" theme. The songs on this collection chronicle some of the personal difficulties and turmoil in the world that the band encountered while they were putting together the "Southern Rock Opera" album. Although there is not a "story" to "Decoration Day", there still is a strong theme.
This has been one of the hardest collections I ever had to review. The reason why is I have never been a fan of the triple guitar sound of Lynryd Skynryd. In fact, I've never bought into the whole guitar laden sound of Southern Rock just because I prefer some more diverse instrumentation in my rock music (keyboard, piano, horns, percussion, etc). This isn't to knock Southern Rock, it's just a personal musical preference. Like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Drive By Truckers adopt a triple guitar sound and most of the basis of their sound is guitar based. The good news is that there are cases where the Drive By Truckers bring in other instruments. However, I always have an enormous amount of respect for a concept or theme based album. On top of that, I also have an enormous amount of respect for deep songwriting. The Drive By Truckers bring as good of songwriting as I have seen on any album. Sometimes by putting out a "dark" album, this brings out some great songwriting. Overall, my assessment is - the sound of the album might not be too my liking, but there clearly is some great talent that is on this collection.
Perhaps a good example of this songwriting is the opening song. "The Deeper In" is a controversial song. It deals with consensual and illegal relations between a brother and sister as well as the legal and moral ramifications. The Drive By Truckers read a magazine article during this period of turmoil that inspired this song. The song starts out with about 30 seconds of a cappella singing. This isn't a song you are going to rock or dance to. Listen to the lyrics - this is powerful stuff.
There are songs that will sound similar to Lynryd Skynyrd. The song "Marry Me" definitely falls into that category. This is not a bad song - I did enjoy the guitar rifts in the song. My favorite song on the collection is "My Sweet Annette". This has more of a unique sound to the Drive By Truckers. Part of my liking of this song is the fact that the Drive By Truckers incorporate some other instrumentation - namely a Fiddle and Pedal Steel. This song serves as almost the antithesis of "Marry Me" as it deals with someone named "Annette ...left standing at the alter". This is a very catchy song.
The other song I really enjoyed was "Heathens". Like "My Sweet Annette", the Drive By Truckers incorporate the use of the Fiddle. This song is almost a reflective song to some "wild and reckless" days.
The other interesting some was "Do It Yourself". The best way to put this song was it sounded like a Kinks song being played to Southern Rock. I found this song very enjoyable.
The liner notes are very good. They contain all of the lyrics. The songwriting credits are listed of each song. There is some interesting art found within the liner notes. It appears there are dates and locations listed next to some of the songs that are when and where the songs were inspired. The only disappointing thing about the liner notes is that they don't list the actual band members and what instruments they play. Overall - great songwriting and themes. I'd still probably only recommend this for the big Southern Rock or Guitar fan.
Description of Decoration Day
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.They earned wide acclaim with the double-disc Southern Rock Opera, a sprawling concept album about Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their three-guitar lineup and greasy look signify big, dumb rock in the minds of many, but their songwriting is relentlessly whip-smart. And what may be their greatest song, "The Living Bubba," is an ode to a righteous, hard-rocking redneck felled by AIDS. No, the Drive-By Truckers never do anything by the book, so it's no surprise that with Decoration Day, the band's first release for indie New West Records, Patterson Hood and his mates take another rewarding left turn. The album boasts a handful of crowd-pleasing, party-starting cuts, like the brash, cranky rocker "Hell No, I Ain't Happy" and the Stones ringer "Marry Me." Yet more common are moments of startling beauty (the steel solos on "The Deeper In" and "Loaded Gun in the Closet" and the jangling guitars, rolling melodies, and soulful fiddle breaks of "Heathens" and "My Sweet Annette") and heavy doses of recrimination and regret, as in the back-to-back suicide tunes "When the Pin Hits the Shell" and "Do It Yourself." --Anders Smith Lindall
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