Southern Rock Opera

moj brat imao je nekakvu igračku ritam-mašinu, u principu komad plosnate plastike na kojem su bili nacrtani bubnjevi i ovisno o tome na koji bi se dio pritisnulo začuo bi se zvuk toga dijela bubnjeva. teoretski su se mogli "svirati" bubnjevi barata li netko vješto svima prstima po toj ploči. fora igračka, no s jednom manom: imala je nekakvu "sempl" tipku pritiskom koje krenula bi, uz jasno izraženu pratnju bubnjeva, neka generična američka kantri rok pjesma koja je bila neopisivo loša i nesnosna.

čitav ovaj album (koji nipošto nije opera kao što naslov upućuje) zvuči upravo kao taj sempl, samo što umjesto dvadesetak sekundi traje sat i pol. užas

Southern white American culture might be the worst culture of all time, and the music it produces tracks completely. The last thing I need is 90 minutes of retreaded Skynyrd,

0.5/5.0: Unlistenable

this was something. there is a lot of good here but the length of the album and the dedication to the concept was a huge hindrance

solid - good songs but sound a bit the same

This is going to be an interesting listen... I will be evaluating this both as an album and as a representative of what the southern US is like(granted, I live in suburban Florida, so my knowledge of these places is probably limited). A lot of this album is very mediocre classic "Southern rock" that was well out of the musical mainstream by 2001. They are surprisingly good at evoking the classic sound of the style, but don't really do anything particularly interesting with it. The lyrics go for poetic and deep explorations of what it means to be a Southerner, but mostly fail at this and end up very superficial. For some reason, there's a spoken word song about Alabama's history and former racist governor. The singer sounds incredibly bro-country, oftentimes reminding me of the local bar bands of the northern Florida coasts. While this album is not bad by any means, it is incredibly derivative. I don't think it does enough to transcend the Southern stereotypes and sonic constraints of its chosen genre, leaving it to essentially be a rock revival act that's not better than the originals.

This is the #16 ranked album of the 17 2001 albums on the list. Other 2001 albums rated by me:
Is This It(1/17)-4
Gorillaz(3/17)-3
Vespertine(8/17)-4
Gold(15/17)-1
Bright Flight(17/17)-3

a premissa de recontar a história do lynyrd skynyrd, enquanto perpassa pela vivência sulista, PARECE meio xoxa. e é um pouco mesmo, assim como o lynyrd skynyrd é uma banda xoxa. PORÉM, ENTRETANTO, é interessante, até. todo mundo sabe que o sul estadunidense é/era um poço de racismo e etc e eles debatem isso e outras 500 questões nesse album. dito isso, o spokenword em "three great alabama icons" traz uns pontos interessantes pra discussão, papo de me deixar encucado até. o problema eh ser a OITAVA MÚSICA e termos que aguentar uns alt country meia boca antes.

mas aí que tá. a segunda metade do album eh BEM boa, na real. zip city tem umas guitarrada digna de dinosaur jr (numa das fases recentes deles, mais tranquilinhas), coisa que eu aprecio muito. dá pra ver onde wednesday, mj lendermann e outros rock barulhentos puxados prum countryzinho se inspiraram, né. achei que ia odiar mais, mas eu achei decente demais, bem bacana até.

I thought it was satire, and when it became apparent that it wasn't, I quickly checked out.

this album screams "what the hell is a kilometer?"

I was quite liking this at the start, the first 2 tracks were great. It started to go downhill for me after that and I never got back into it. I was thoroughly bored of it by the end.

Top Track - Ronnie And Neil

I prefer Decoration Day, old mates got better when Isbell joined. Truckers rule though, happy to see them here.

Well, I think they successfully achieved what they set out to do. Personally, I don't see the appeal of a country-rock double-album homage to Lynyrd Skynyrd and southernness in general, but that probably says something about my interests more than anything else. I actually think my favorite track was "The Three Great Alabama Icons," but more as a history lesson than as a song. I don't know, it's a weird one, colored by my own tastes and enjoyment. It's a 2 or a 3... Usually, when I'm stuck between two numbers, I'll give another listen, but I really don't want to listen again, which probably means it's a 2. A high 2, for what it's worth (is that worth anything?).

Not too bad, however the album is very long.

"Southern Rock Opera" is an enigma of an album.

On one hand, I think how they portray the duality associated with being a southerner to be fascinating. The tracks "Ronnie and Neil" and "The Southern Thing" are the most interesting. I appreciate the story of it all.

On the other hand, this album is over NINTY minutes long, offering little variety (especially on "Disc 2"), and constantly resting on the laurels of southern greats of the past (eg Lynyrd Skynyrd). By the end of the second disc I was so tuned out. Overall not garbage, and interesting perspectives, but would have been better to release a parred down version of disc 1 as the album. 2/5

The Hamilton of the south.

Much like the south, it has its moments, but mostly leaves me wanting more.

If you’re in the mood for redneck country music, this is a pretty good album. Not as good as Lynyrd Skynyrd for sure.

I can understand its inclusion on the list while listening to it, but it doesn't necessarily do that much for me. I imagine not being American doesn't help.

Drinking challenge: Take a shot every time they mention Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Seriously, why are they so obsessed?

It’s a long one but it goes by pretty fast. Definitely will revisit.

Liker egentlig Lynyrd Skynyrd, men syns det er cringe hver gang de nevnes her.

This is an interesting one. First redneck album on the list, but with apparently massive scope. Southern history, culture and traditions rolled into one double LP package. Despite all of that, this is quite boring and repetitive music, probably 2, 3 if I'm feeling generous. Rated 2.5 on RYM.