Search - Drive-By Truckers :: A Blessing And A Curse

Smoothing out the white lightning

punkviper | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 04/20/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Many people/reviewers will constantly trumpet the "rock" quality of the Drive-By Truckers, and i have to believe that these same people must listen to Yanni and Enya in their spare time. The skill & wit of DBT, tempered with the soul & grit is really what makes them a memorable band. Any bunch of yokels can grab a Gibson, run on stage and yammer on about beer & broads all night, and trying to define this band by that quality is short-selling them in a big way.



Though there is a difference in this album VS prior studio recordings, and it does have to do with the volume & intensity. You can tell the DBT wrote a lot of this material in the studio. It's more personal, it's more introspective, and it's (dare i say) more delicate than some of the less tuneful bombast that we got on The Dirty South (an album i appreciate dearly). But what makes the Truckers great, the wry turns of phrase, the honest-to-goodness Southern culture, and the guts, are all still here. It's just wrapped around a more restrained set of tunes that go down easier than the fifth of Jack you might have been expecting.



To this fan's ears this release show's a lot of the (oft-dreaded) "maturity" that truly great bands can achieve when they simply sit down and write from the heart. Therefore this album = more wistfulness and loss, < bar-room squall and bombast. To me, it's a tremendous transition that results in a very listenable record (perhaps their most so) and one that really shows how far they've come as songwriters since the early days. Maybe not the perfect intro to the band, but certainly one to pick up once initiated.

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A Blessing and a Curse

S. Finefrock | Raleigh, NC | 05/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The latest by the DBT's continues in a line of excellent music. The big news is that they have changed the concept of their writing to address everyday issues rather than everyday Southern issues. They have also filed off some of the edges from their delightfully grungy guitar sound. The results of this are all hinging on you're expectations coming in. If you are hooked on the superb songwriting of this band, you will be delighted by what you get, pure, passionate songs that wryly examine the human condition. If you are looking for a hard rocking party loaded with local color and references, chances are you will be disappointed with the new direction the band has taken.



Personally, I think that the band, despite being on an artistic roll that few bands can equal, was wise to take a change of course. I love the bands previous output, but eventually they were going to become a caricature. SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA, their breakthrough, provided a similar break from the first two albums in their catalog by focusing the songwriting and muscling up their sound. This one is more radical, in that they are distancing themselves from the roots that brought them the fame that they have attained to this point. As far as I am concerned, as long as Hood, Isbell and Cooley continue to write songs as strong as the ones included here, they could record them as Gregorian Chants, and I would still check them out and enjoy them.



The sound here has more of a Stones or punk sound than previous releases, with AFTERMATH USA sounding like a long lost EXILE ON MAIN STREET outtake (and a good one!). The opener FEBRUARY 14TH has the sound of prime Replacements circa TIM, while Cooley's GRAVITY GONE and SPACE CITY have a sound more akin to the bands previous work. Isbell's DAYLIGHT is the biggest stylistic leap here, sounding to me not unlike mainstream 80's rock. Still it's a solid song and vocal performance.



If you are coming to A BLESSING AND A CURSE with an open mind, I feel that you will find yet another jewel in the unwinding career of this great band. If you think the harder sound and Dixie-centric point of view is indispensable, feel free to keep listening to the back catalog and catching the band live. Either way, you can't lose.

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A Worthy Album

Marc W. Landry | Ottawa, Canada | 11/16/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Most of the reviews here make a whole lot of sense to me, even the bitter ones. This is NOT in the same league as SRO, Decoration Day nor Dirty South. I was expecting something of that calibre but was very dissapointed when I heard it for the first time. Not a heck of alot of depth here, what happened to the songwriting? I couldnt believe all 3 DBT songwriters went into the songwriting tank at the same time. How could this happen to 3 brilliant writers simultaneously?



What I am finding now after about the 50th listen is that although the songwriting is not as interesting, its a fun album to groove to for music itself. The playing on this album is WAY beyond any of there previous outings, it is slick and polished but it sounds great. The guitars duel the drums kick and the vocals are first rate. The songs are good... not great... but you get used to them after a while and find yourself singing along.



Check it out



ML"