Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Drive-By Truckers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 22, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: New West Records
• ASIN: B000ZKRFDA
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,698 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

DBT s brand new album is a Southern gothic rock n' roll masterpiece with 19 songs adding up to over 75 minutes of pure rock n roll. The band continues its notorious 3-guitar attack with the promotion of longtime sidekick John Neff to full member. Patterson Hood contributes 9 songs to the album (The Righteous Path, Daddy Needs A Drink), 7 songs from Mike Cooley (A Ghost To Most, Lisa's Birthday) and 3 songs from Shonna Tucker (The Purgatory Line). This it the first time Shonna has written the songs for a DBT album. All this is enhanced with musical contributions from he legendary Spooner Oldham.

As Patterson Hood says about the songs on the album, Stylistically, they run the gamut from old-timey sounding country to a heavy R&B influence. Some songs that are quieter than any we've ever recorded and some that rock harder than anything we've ever done. In the end it's still all Rock and Roll (which is why that will always be the description of choice to us when describing our music in stylistic terms).

Drive-By Truckers are one of the most unique recording artists and live bands in popular music today. The Truckers write about people, places and situations like no one else, and have build an amazing worldwide audience in the process.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece, January 22, 2008

By 

Deanokat (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Brighter Than Creation's Dark (Audio CD)

I've been listening to this album pretty much non-stop for the last couple of weeks. As a longtime DBT fan, I'm pretty comfortable in saying that I think this is their best album yet. I was worried when Jason Isbell left the band. I wasn't sure the band could keep up the quality without Jason in the band. But I was wrong. And that's not in any way meant to be a knock on Jason Isbell. (I love his solo record!) It's just that DBT pulled a rabbit out of their hat with BTCD. From start to finish, this record is nothing but top-notch songs. Great melodies, great lyrics. Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood...along with the impressive Shonna Tucker...really hit a home run with this one. Too long? No way. Full of filler? No way. Nineteen kick-butt songs, and nothing else. I swear, there isn't a bad song on this album. And there are a bunch that stand out as just totally killer tracks: "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife," "The Righteous Path," "I'm Sorry Huston," "Self Destructive Zones," "The Opening Act," "That Man I Shot" (rock and roll!!!), "The Purgatory Line," and the album closer, "Monument Valley." All freakin' fabulous songs. And my favorite song (for the moment) on the album? "You and Your Crystal Meth." Never have I heard 7 notes on a piano tell such a chilling, haunting story. By far one of the most thought-provoking songs I've heard in a long time. I really and truly think this is the Drive-By Truckers best album to date. They've had other fabulous records, but this one shows that their aging like fine wine. Hats off to Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and the rest of the best Southern rock and roll band in the world today. And one of the best rock and roll bands in the world...period!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 25 Cents Shy of a Slice of the Doublemint Twins, September 1, 2008

By 

mothball raven "mothball raven" (so cal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brighter Than Creation's Dark (Audio CD)

Let me start off by saying that I love the sh*t out of this band! They have never done a weak album. Sure, some are better than others, but fans tend to get spoiled after the likes of Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day, the Dirty South and the fantastic Live at the 40 Watt DVD.

I've noticed a bit of rumbling in the ranks since the release of A Blessing and a Curse. Even Patterson Hood has had some misgivings about that album. But it still is quite a fine album when compared to the sad state of rock 'n' roll these days. As far as A Blessing and a Curse is concerned, the longer I owned it and played it, the more it grew on me. DBT albums tend to be that way.

Which brings us to the subject at hand, Brighter Than Creation's Dark, the latest release by DBT. The album is clearly transitional, and not just because Jason Isbell has left the band. The record also showcases the softer, "acoustic" side of the band more than any other previous release. Then there is the emergence of Shonna Tucker as a songwriter and vocalist. John Neff also rises to the occasion with extremely atmospheric pedal steel guitar (Jesus, his work on "The Opening Act" is beyond evocative and atmospheric and really makes that tune the highlight of the album), tasty slide and electric lead("3 Dimes Down") and gorgeous acoustic lead guitar ("Perfect Timing", which sounds like some bastard child of the Grateful Dead's Workingman and American Beauty period with a touch of Reckoning thrown in). It also includes the incredibly wise keyboard playing of veteran sideman Spooner Oldham whose timing is deliciously and perfectly off-kilter for the Jack Daniels meets heroin sound of the DBT.

Hood's nine contributions to the album vary in quality and style, the best being the aforementioned "The Opening Act" (which is just killer), "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife", "Daddy Needs a Drink" and the lethargic "Monument Valley". Patterson's, "That Man I Shot", has powerful and ferocious guitar work which lends to the moral dilema of the song's subject. But the tune, as brash and furious as Hood's interesting lyrics are presented, lacks an interesting bridge. "The Righteous Path" is another interesting lyric which is set to a plodding repetitive simple chord progression which seems borrowed from "The Buford Stick", but the latter song was more interesting. The thankfully short, "You and Your Crystal Meth", is about as interesting musically as an anti-drug TV ad - very forgettable on a musical level.

Hood's other midling efforts for this album include "The Home Front" (an Iraqi war veteran's wife's story) and the suicidal and monotonous "Goode's Field Road".

Shonna Tucker's three contributions to the album deserve more credit than most have given them in previous reviews. The rockin' "Home Field Advantage" has the makings of a hit, although perhaps it should fade out during the dissonant "jam" at the end for the single edit. "Purgatory Line," is gorgeous and atypical of DBT, exposing the possibilities still yet unexplored by this band. "I'm Sorry Huston," leaves plenty of mystery in its lyrics' story line and the melody is palpably mournful. I encourage Shonna to continue her pursuit as a songwriter. She's got some interesting stuff to be heard.

Cooley's always accessible contributions to the album are a welcome interval between the stylings of Hood and Tucker. Mike weighs in with seven tunes, the best of which are "Ghost To Most" (this is classic DBT), and the gorgeous, if not somewhat melodically predictable, "Checkout Time In Vegas." "Lisa's Birthday," might be melodically and subjectively tried and true, but dammit I love this tune. "Bob," is also a cool, melodically simple, yet complex character study done with an economy of words ("He might kneel but he doesn't bend over"). "Self Destructive Zones" is a graet tune melodically, with a lyric which puzzles me at times. The aforementioned "Perfect Timing," has really tasty acoustic guitar by John Neff which really dresses the Cooley tune up nicely.

Cooley's earliest effort on the record, "3 Dimes Down," has stellar slide and other guitar work by John Neff. The track begins in a completely promising fashion with great guitar riffs and interplay with a sound reminiscent of the Stones and Faces in their heyday. It's a great song but I wish it had another verse at the end instead of two verses and a long instrumental bridge and ending. Seems like this tune, like this album, falls 25 cents shy of a slice of the Doublemint Twins.

Still, a DBT album that falls short is ninety nine times better than anything else out there. I give it four stars! So rock on and enjoy it. Play this CD frequently until you are able to see this great band when they come to your town. Make sure you're in a Jack Daniels frame of mind. It's the heroin of booze.

24 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. . .", February 29, 2008

By 

loce_the_wizard "loce_the_wizard" (Lilburn, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Brighter Than Creation's Dark (Audio CD)

After half a dozen listens, I find that The Drive-by Truckers latest recording, "Brighter Than Creation's Dark," still sounds somewhat unfinished and a bit disjointed. Many tracks here have that signature DBT grit and dark energy, and the Mike Cooley tracks rise to the top on this disc, both for their pace and wit.

Some of Patterson Hood's contributions--and I know he is the leader of the band--hold their own with his earlier work, e.g., The Opening Act. But sometimes the tales and actions of those characters who inhabit the dark places in his mind push me away. For instance, the broken glass in your fingertips tone of You and Your Crystal Meth is haunting but not something I can say I'm drawn to want to hear over and over. Nor can I muster much love for Daddy Needs a Drink

I think the Shonna Tucker songs are certainly OK, if a bit tentative, and her somewhat hesitant voice betrays emotions not fully vented here. She and drummer Brad Morgan do make a whale of a rhythm section. Another plus if having Spooner Oldham in the mix on about three-fourths of songs, and the cagey keyboard vet never gets in the way and sounds as smooth as ever here.

But I have to say it: I miss Jason Isbell's contribution, both his songs and his guitars. Although John Neff knows his way around the music here, he does not seem to have permission to take over some of the songs the way Isbell could at times.

If the tone and energy here only matched that of Wes Freed's excellent artwork, than "Darker than Creation's Bright" would be the next great DBT recording instead of being a very good one. What's lacking, for me, is that sense of coherence that makes an album great. To quote Yeats, "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. . ."