Southern Rock Opera

Ended up liking it much more than expected.

Just posting my track by track listening notes.

ACT 1:
Days of Graduation - I laughed. This talk over introduction destroys whatever emotion they are trying to build here.
Ronnie and Neil - I'm onboard with this one. Upbeat Southern Rock.
72 (This Highway's Mean) - This SUCKS in every way that I hate country.
Dead, Drunk and Naked - see above review for 72.
Guitar Man Upstairs - I guess this is "cowpunk"? It sucks too.
Birmingham - I kinda like this. It's a HUGE rip off of Neil Young's Ohio in both sound and the emotion they are trying to convey.
The Three Great Alabama Icons - exposition like the intro because they can't work it in musically. Throwaway track.
Wallace - Jesus, what are they doing here? Sounds like an untalented ZZ Top.
Zip City - More uninspiring country infused "rock". No thanks.
Moved - Wow... Who knew it could get worse. AWFUL vocals on this boring wanker of a track. Great way to close out "act 1" you dicks.

ACT 2:
Let There Be Rock - This AIN'T AC/DC!
Road Cases - More Neil Young worship. Actually listenable.
Women Without Whiskey - see above review for 72.
Plastic Flowers On The Highway - Southern rock but without any emotional feeling to it. Vocals sound like Rod Stewart.
Cassie's Brother - Oh! Now they are trying southern Soul (or R&B). I can't do much more of this.
Life In The Factory - These are all starting to blur into completely non-memorable southern rock you'd hear at any redneck bar or county fair.
Shut Up and Get On The Plane - OK, just figured out this whole thing is about Skynyrd... These guys AIN'T Skynyrd!
Greenville To Baton Rouge - Finally, Southern Rock that actually sounds like it ROCKS! Album should have been a single.
Angels And Fuselage - Neil Young rip off again, this one more early singer/songwriter style. Makes sense, this is where they are at their strongest. Still feels like a cover song when it's not. Never truly has the emotional pull Neil's voice did on tracks like this. Wow LOL they even bust out the harmonica for it!

This was a blast, had no idea what to expect and exceeded all my expectations. Maybe overlong but feels like an album you can live in for years, let's go 5 to even out all the idiotic 1 star reviews

This is firmly in 3.5 territory. I know this band fairly well, this album less so. I enjoy the band but this album was just okay. Every song felt like it was right on the edge of me loving it, with none of them quite getting there. Maybe I need more familiarity with Lynyrd Skynyrd?

Expecting shallow rockabilly, but this is pretty good, kinda deep-south AC/DC. Did not outstay its welcome despite its length.

I'll start by saying that this album, musically, is not very good, and at over an hour-and-a-half long, that is not a good thing. Sometimes you'll get a guitar lick or a hook that is pleasing to the ears, but otherwise you're either getting stereotypical country rock, or Lemmy doing stereotypical country rock. It gets old fast, and whenever the lyrics are just like "I got drunk to Lynyrd Skynyrd hyuck-hyuck" the worst of the album shows. I understand that it may be relatable to some guy in Alabama who grew up in the 70s and 80s, but for most of the world, it verges on parody.

However, I must admit, despite not wanting to, that I don't hate this album. Especially not enough for a one star. There are lyrical nuisances here that show more deptch and humanizing of the American South than their "culture" has ever shown, and the looking inside the album tries to display at times is endearing at worst, but genuinely interesting at times. Not every song does this, mind you, but after years of Alabama being the butt of every joke you've ever heard, to see someone actually from the state talk about their thoughts and opinions on various topics can be genuinely thought provoking, and they can definitely tell jokes that are more clever than just "Alabama lol". Needing all twenty fingers and toes to "hold the closet door closed" is one that is especially clever as a comment of the stereotypes of the state.

Most of this is not good, and I'd rather not hear this again, but I have to give credit somewhere. This is too long, though, were half of these songs necessary? Still, expected worse.

Looking into this album a bit more, I'd say just listen to disc one, as disc two is the part of the storyline where the fictional band of the story "Let there be rock" and while most of the decent parts musically come from this section, nothing on this back half will stick with me.

Favourite songs: Greenville to Baton Rouge, Shut Up and Get on the Plane, The Southern Thing, Women Without Whiskey, Plastic Flowers on the Highway, Road Cases, Let There Be Rock, Ronnie and Neil, Zip City, "Dead, Drunk and Naked", Guitar Man Upstairs, Life in the Factory, Angels and Fuselage

Least favourite songs: Birmingham, Moved

4/5

"Anyone who's ever been on it, knows exactly where it's at"

This album is all about the lyrics and the guitars. The sound is traditional guitar rock with the odd country-twinge. When it dials in the three guitar attack is a blistering force of distortion and harmony. The vocals aren't virtuoso or anything but perfect for the songs, raspy and hoarse with a heavy accent. Great songwriting overall, and all tied together through an exploration of 'the duality of that southern thing' and a radical act of self-mythologizing, projecting the band into the southern rock cannon in Skynard's wake. Though the valiant effort to articulate an anti-racist Southern heritage and de-exceptionalize the south as THE site of American racism sometimes comes across as mostly self-exculpatory. The personal songs and family stories are the strongest. I love Cooley's songs on this album: Highway 72's verses, Women without Whiskey's jangly guitars, Zip City's yearning angry vocals and squeaky squirrely solo. A bit too much of a good thing though; the double album drags on a bit even though the quality of the songs doesn't dip, it's a bit samey. Decoration Day would be my pick for a DbT album instead. It makes sense they've released so many live albums, as this is really a band you have to see to believe.

A throwback to 70s Southern Rock and done very well. There's a few tracks that I could do without, I find most double albums could use some editing, but overall I was pleasently surprised. This is not a band that I would've thought that I would like before giving them a chance. Surprises are good.

Hmmmm. Not as dreadful as some of the reviews indicated but not that special to listen to either. Somewhat bland southern-fried rock I guess.

Reminds me of college. This album is top 20 in the pantheon of left-country.

Vähän turhan pitkä ja muutenkin vähän ihmeellinen Lynyrd Skynyrd-tribuutti. Jotkin biisit sai suupieleen puolihymyn mut taitaapi kakkoseen jäädä.

I only listened to the first half, as it wasn't really my thing. However, this is definitely better than I was expecting. I like the ambition of the thing, and it's way more thoughtful than I was expecting. Ultimately though, this isn't my jam and I don't connect to it.

Awesome - like the skynyrd/steinman crossover that we didn't know we needed! It's long, and heavy, and emotional, and absolutely brilliant.
I will definitely listen to this again (and again) and look forward to checking out the rest of their stuff.

I don’t like country music, so not off to a great start. A couple of ok songs on this. And the idea of the album isn’t bad, but it’s just far to long for me to ever consider a second listen. Can see why some people would like this, and it’s different enough to not get a 1.

Very much not my thing. And an hour and a half of it to boot. Definitely could have been refined and edited down to 45 minutes or split into two separate albums. Had to skip some of the tracks. The combination of the awkward lyrics with the awkward singing made it almost painful. The Southern pride thing comes across in a way that I find alienating. Feel like much of the content of this album could be handled musically in better hands, but the way they do it, it's like they're trying to collage 2 books together into an album (sometimes even a song) and it just comes across as ham fisted. Half the album wants to be a history lesson about Alabama and Southern culture and the other half is like this short story collection of tales of gritty wild life and being a musician in the South. Trying to do too much at once. I get they're trying to be raw and honest but it just comes across as unrefined and self indulgent.

Liked it more than I expected but still not a big fan of southern rock. I wish the vocals would steer away from the over the top southern drawl a bit more. When they did, I found myself enjoying it much more.

maneiro southern

Otro disco que no está completo en Spotify y tampoco en YouTube Music, menos mal que la vida se abre camino. Ha sido un descubrimiento, me gusta la Americana music pero no soy experto y se me escapan muchas cosas. Esto tiene mucho de Lynyrd Skynyrd y Neil Young. Recomendable, trataré de oir más cosas suyas.