Southern Rock Opera

I liked this album. I just think it could have been half an hour shorter. Did we really need three songs in a row about George Wallace? Feels like they could have got the point across in one. The style is entertaining and fits within that 70’s southern rock theme. Favorite songs were Ronnie And Neil, Zip City, Let There Be Rock, and Plastic Flowers On The Highway.

Favorite track(s): an hour and a half of flavorless songwriting, derivative or outright bad vocals, and off-meter lyrics about how us Yankees don't understand Lynyrd Skynyrd or "the Southern Thing™". I couldn't wait long enough for the next exit off Highway 72.

A few guys are making a rock opera about Lynyrd Skynyrd—that sounds like something between cool and kitschy... And that's exactly how it is; the album holds no surprises. How you rate the result depends heavily on your taste: if you like Southern blues rock, you'll enjoy Drive By Truckers, because they're a really tight band with a distinctive singer. If you're not into blues rock/alternative country, "Southern Rock Opera" will be a waste of your time.
I like the blues rock sound but I'll only go with 3/5 for the total lack of originality.

To all of the Europeans not willing to spend 5 mins to google, listen and understand how complex and the DBT commentary is here, i got nothing for you.

This record is not only a shining example of the powerful sounds of blues and southern rock + the muscle shoals history but tackles the complexity of southern history, music, vulture and politics with such careful regard and thought.

I do not come from or live in the south, but someone who loves the sound of that slide guitar and appreciates when real political thought is expressed in music in a nuanced way, this record does it perfectly.

I've never heard of this album or this band but I feel like I know what I'm getting into before it even starts. We'll see...90+ minutes seems like a big ask for an album with this cover.
"Hey Lynyrd Skynyrd can we copy your homework?"
"Yeah but change it a little so the teacher doesn't know."
"Oh yeah. Totally."
And then they go on to mention or reference Skynyrd in like every song. And Alabama. Honestly I guess the music isn't bad, it's what you'd expect for southern rock and is super derivative. But the lyrics and vocals sound like a parody. Songs about whiskey, trucks, good ol' boys, Lynyrd Skynyrd (of course) and more! Sometimes (usually) all in the same song. And good god why on earth does this album need to take up 90 minutes?!?!
I think I might actually appreciate some of this if it was half the length but as it is, no it was a struggle before the first half was done. I was really close to turning this one off before it was done. I probably would have given this a generous 3 if it weren't so long. Knocking it down to 1.5/5

I get it. Not all southeners. and racists aren't just in the south. Do I really need a double album that tells me this? It's too long and too much. I think we protest too much.

Extremely shocked at liking this, southern Rock band from the early 21st century that I'd never heard of is normally an automatic 2 but this record has brilliant theming, great music and especially great lyrics

Es ist ein kraftvolles Doppelalbum, das Southern Rock, Alternative Country und politisch‑kulturelle Reflexionen beeindruckend miteinander verbindet. Besonders stark ist die erzählerische Tiefe: Die Band verwebt persönliche Geschichten, Südstaaten‑Mythologie und die Legende von Lynyrd Skynyrd zu einem vielschichtigen Konzeptwerk A. Musikalisch überzeugt das Album mit rauer Energie, markanten Gitarren und einer spürbaren Leidenschaft.

Honestly? I’d have disliked it less if it ended at track 12.

It starts off pretty interesting, with the spoken word track and some nice songwriting on the opening few tracks, but the further down the considerable tracklist you get the more threadbare the writing becomes - simple power chords, basic drums, one dimensional bass playing. It lacks finesse, flavour, or frankly - surprise. What starts off as quite charming soon becomes tedious. The most certainly did not have enough fuel in the tank for a double album.

This album is really good. Better than Skynyrd. The length is really what's keeping me from giving it 4 stars. I had a moment of "why is this even on the list," but it is a very very good example of modern southern rock. Not my favorite genre, but there are certainly things to appreciate.

I liked this more than I thought I would, but not all the (multiple) vocalists were equally to my taste, and it went on far too long; distilled down to a single 45-minute album, this might have got a four.

Honestly fucked with this way more than I thought I would. WAYYYYY too American though, please tone it down…

A 90 minute album is a tough sell. A 90 minute rock opera about Lynyrd Skynyrd and life in the south is even tougher. There are a few decent songs here but most aren’t that good. The best ones are the spoken poem/songs and not where the lead singer is trying to sing. Maybe this would be better if I grew up in the south or like Lynyrd Skynyrd, but neither of those are true and this album isn’t really good enough to cross cultural boundaries

I've yet to get a double album on this list that hasn't bored me at some point. They're all get too tedious because they're unnecessarily long. This one is nothing different

There were some good bits of this one, with my favourite song being Ronnie and Neil, being so good it gave me such foolishly high aspirations for the rest of the album. I hate the vocals, and the exaggerated glazing of Lynyrd Skynyrd is so annoying. The music itself wasn't anything special, which is criminal for a 90 minute long album.

love the guitar tone. too long for a genre that i admittedly dislike.

I really didn't want to listen to white trash music, especially not 1.5 hours of it. The singing is mediocre, it's giving local dive bar. Not worthy of this list. DNF, no ragrets.

Fantastic album. I love how it is lyrically a psychgoeographic exploration of where main songwriter grew up.

I don't like country sounds.

I'm aware of Drive-By Truckers, but have never listened to them.

I don't know. This just isn't quite doing it for me. It's not bad, but I feel like it could certainly be better. In particular, they should have spent more time getting better vocal takes. I'm fine with the gruff tone of the vocals, but they should have tried harder to really nail the pitches.