Southern Rock Opera

I enjoyed this album, but it's something I'd only want to listen to once. It really is a 'rock opera' in the sense that they have written a story and then they've shoehorned the words into multiple vaguely similar tunes (possibly in one recording/jamming session?). I'm glad I had the lyric sheet in front of me. I saw the word 'Educational' used in another review. And yeah to a Brit it was in some ways. There's 2 sides to every story though, but thanks for sharing your side.

Like any Opera or Broadway Musical, now I've seen/heard it, then I've no desire to see it a second time.

Drive-By Truckers is one of those groups that I've heard at least one song before, but not a band I usually sought out. They're a southern alternative country rock band founded by Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley that quickly established themselves over a couple of years to the point where through word of mouth and fan support, they raised enough funds to independently release this album.

Southern Rock Opera is very much what it says on the tin, telling the story of the fictitious group Betamax Guillotine as they establish themselves in the 1970s Southern rock scene around the same time as the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd did. They were able to weave as much of the imagery and events as they could, from Ronnie Van Zant and Neil Young's friendship on the track bearing their names to the stereotypical associations of the state of Alabama with the song "Sweet Home Alabama", college football, and casual racism on "The Three Great Alabama Icons", to the plane crash that killed Ronnie, Steve Gaines, and his sister Cassie as cataloged from "Shut Up and Get on the Plane" through "Angels and Fuselage". There's a lot of detail explored from the fictional band's account as they try and carve out their path that could also be viewed as somewhat autobiographical from the actual band, such as "Guitar Man Upstairs" from when Cooley would get called by the cops over playing his guitar, Patterson's teenage years partying and listening to arena rock on "Let There Be Rock", and "72 (Highway's Mean)" about the US state highway that runs through their neighborhood and the rough lifestyle around it. It's all sold with the kind of conviction that took some getting used to from Patterson's fried vocals and Cooley's crooning that sounded reminiscent of Johnny Cash, but it eventually clicked for me.

Alright, so I just praised the hell out of the storytelling, and the musicianship is certainly there as the band played well. What's stopping me from outright calling this album excellent? Well, there's a matter of the run time; Southern Rock Opera is over 90 minutes long, and much like an actual opera an intermission was needed for me. While there isn't a bad song to be found, there are tracks that run together lyrically with the shared themes of partying, drinking, and playing rock music. While some details surrounding the Alabama roots are explored and some insight and catharsis are found in the chronology of the state's people and iconography, I'm not sure it was enough to satisfy the full runtime.

Also not helping matters is keeping Lynyrd Skynyrd within the periphery of the fictional band's focus, especially in Act II taking the time to explore Skynyrd's claim to fame on "Life in the Factory" and the heartfelt tribute to Steve and Cassie Gaines on "Cassie's Brother". The choice for such a narrative invites comparisons to a more established act, especially considering the original Ronnie Van Zant run of Skynyrd. Do the Drive-By Truckers sound as good as Lynyrd Skynyrd? Well no, but that misses the point. This story was meant to be about another band that certainly felt inspired by Skynyrd but was looking to chart their path. It took me some time to realize that, but I understand where such expectations can come from.

I can come around at the end and say that Southern Rock Opera is a good outing, one that certainly was more ambitious than what would be initially perceived. If anything, I appreciate what Drive-By Truckers brought to the table here as a storytelling adventure.

I'll leave y'all with one last factoid that should be worth celebrating about this album. During the touring for Southern Rock Opera, the band would welcome a young Jason Isbell as their third guitarist. Isbell would continue to work with Drive-By Truckers for the next six years before venturing out and taking claim as a renowned singer-songwriter on his own and with the 400 Unit. That is something I'm truly grateful for.

I’m going to click the button. I have doubts I’ll make it through this album.

Song 1: Hold on, this is pretty good! Not anything like what I thought it was going to b…

The rest of the songs: yeah…no.

This is a weird album. It’s not country, but the lead singer has a VERY pronounced southern accent, and it’s hard for me to get around that. It’s also too goddamned long. There are a couple really interesting songs but overall, I don’t like it at all.

If you listed all 600 albums we had left and ask me to rank by my excitement to listen to them, this probably would’ve been in the bottom 50. Listening to all 90 minutes of this was a big ask. Usually these huge albums take me all morning to listen to, but an unrelated change in the household morning routine allowed me to get half of it listened to before I got to work.

I am not sure what to make of some of the messages in this. Genuinely. Musically, it was pretty good overall. A 2 feels like a safe rating. I liked it, I thought it was really long. I don’t think shortening it would’ve given it a higher rating.

Also, Lynyrd Skynrd might be one of my least favorite bands? And they didn’t change my mind.

The title "Southern Rock Opera" is like nightmare fuel for me. Add in "Truckers" and "1.5hr runtime" and I've really formed some rock-bottom expectations. And those expectations... were met.

The subject matter is respectable; the lyrics are engaging, but I just can't handle the presentation. They did a good job with the Lynyrd Skynyrding, but Lynyrd Skynyrding is like my anti-pizza (even when it's good, it's bad).

Not all of it works, but most of it does. And "Three Great Alabama Icons" should be considered mandatory listening for every American.

4/5

Something that is right up my alley, but didn't grab me right away. Could be better with subsequent listens, but overall I think it was a little too bloated. 3.5/5

Enjoyed this more than I expected, but it is a bit too long. Found the first disc more engaging than the second, especially the 3 song run from "Birmingham" to "Three Great Alabama Icons". They have me wondering if I should give Skynyrd another chance. I definitely prefer a modern take on this type of southern rock though (like Wednesday, Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, etc.)

I semi-enjoyed it, in that it's interesting a concept album/story-ish... but jeez do they have a raging hard-on for Lynyrd Skynyrd!

3.5
Double implements of being more country than Southern Rock, overall enjoyable.

It's fun to do concept albums.. Lynyrd Skynyrd was mentioned a few times... There's no song I can recall from the double album, which I want to put on again, but I enjoyed it as a whole.

Muuuurica

Deze truckers pakken alles wat op pop-rock lijkt op. Elk nummer zou voorbij kunnen komen op de radio. Eigenlijk is het totaal dan ook knapper dan de individuele nummers. Ook omdat er binnen het genre vrij veel variatie is. Ondanks 0 likes van mij voor de nummers op Spotify, daarom toch een 4e ster.

Southern rock opera describes it quite nicely. Sounds like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the like. Can run in the background quite nicely.

somehow I feel fatter after listening to this album

Wow some southern rock that is rooted in some substantial soil. Guitar Man Upstairs is a good track on side A. Wow, Three Great Alabama Icons is coming right at me. A really self aware southern rock album. Though it is really doing a lot of work to try and like rescue(?), be in homage to(?) Skynard. Which is annoying because it feels like you can't approach this by itself on its own merits. has to be a must listen to fans of the genre, and a great perspective piece. but not for me.

God I hate this album. 90 fucking minutes of a bunch of hicks singing about Alabama and Skynyrd. What the hell

southern rock just isn’t my cup of tea. this album runs for far too long imo. interesting concept tho

The song The Great Alabama Icons is a five star song. It’s hard to keep that level up for a whole two disc album. These guys come pretty close.
I didn’t know this album before and am very glad to know about it now. I’ll come back to it for sure.

Me: doesn’t feel like listening to the Dead album yesterday, too long
Generator: Ok, here’s a much longer album for you today.
Me: Ok

Both impressive and slightly disappointing. Impressive in the focus on the South being more nuanced & bittersweet than I expected; disappointing in the racist politicians, drunk driving, & fiery plane crashes all kinda get the same musical treatment, so even after a more uplifting song like “Let There Be Rock” I still kinda felt mired down.

It does have a strong finish, at least, considering it’s like a 22 minute-long “Detroit Rock City” but about Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crash. Those final 4 songs arguably have the finest guitar work of the record as well.

In several of the songs there are background vocals, either noise picked up by the mic or ghost vocals from a different take; either way it’s kinda creepy to listen to with headphones.

Finally, I have copy/pasted my favourite lines from the album:

“To the fuckin’ rich man, all the people look the same”

“Ain’t no use thinking about it / You’ll just drive yourself insane”

HL: “Dead, Drunk and Naked”, “The Southern Thing”, “Wallace”, “Moved”, “Life in the Factory”, “Greenville to Baton Rouge”

April 24, 2024