Customer Reviews

Coast to Coast

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Always a great live show (and an inexhaustible human jukebox of country B-sides and classics when you shout out your requests!) BR5-49 have also ripened as songsmiths. Whether it's their own familiar "Even If It's Wrong" or the wonderful new "Waitin' For The Axe" and "Better Than This," these guys are everything real country is about: excellent writing, excellent playing, and a whole lotta heart and integrity.

BR5-49 has established themselves as the best live honky tonk band doing it these days, at least to anyone who has seen them perform live. If you can't make it to one of their shows, this CD is the next best thing, although you lose a lot of the witty banter that is part of the fun at a live performance. So, all you hillbillies, and wannabe hillbillies, get the album, buckle up, and go for a ride.

When plugging into Nashville's country music formula, releasing your second live album as your 4th overall release could be called wrong. Most would call it "stupid" or "just plain dumb". BR5-49 simply doesn't care, and after listening to Coast to Coast, you know why. Just as their live shows typically do, they start easy and work up to frenzied fever pitch, so does Coast to Coast. This record showcases of some of their better originals and favorite covers.

The production is mediocre, the guitar sound is a little muddy, and the steel guitar/fiddle are not featured as they have been in the live shows I have seen, but the quality musicianship shines through here.

When you first listen to this album you will probably think "Wow, that's kinda fun, but I'm going to get tired of this pretty quickly." You will be wrong. BR5-49's herky-jerky flashback is a portrait of how country music should be.

Several listens later, I'm no closer to liking "Coast to Coast." The fresh, lively energy BR5-49 captured on their other excellent live outing, "Live from Robert's," sounds formulaic here, as though the band is trying to live up to an image or type.

The material seems so much in the band's comfort zone, that the members never have to really step out and shoulder much of a load, and the performers do little more than "coast to coast" from one song to the next. Even the onstage banter becomes more irritating with each listen.

This band is one of my favorites but this CD is not one of their best. CD was in perfect condition.

Extra good, but not great. Great musicianship and recording quality, and BR-549 is excellent as usual, but a peculiar choice of songs. Not their best material. The album is missing songs like the "Honky Tonk Song" and "7 Nights to Rock", but BR-549 was still heads and shoulders above the competition.

Let me go on record and flat-out state that I really like BR5-49. I liked the original line-up and I like the current version as well. This CD combines some of the well-known BR5-49 material (Even If It's Wrong) with some very nice suprises including Six Days on the Road, the 18-wheeler truckin' song of all-time. On Waitin' for the Axe, Chuck and Gary combine for some great harmony work - sounds like the Everly Brothers. The songs that really draws me on this record are Pourin' Pain and Big Mouth Blues with the repeated references to "New York City's got a lot to do with it". I've played this CD a bunch of time, especially on road trips when I'm driving by myself and need something lively to sing-along to. This recording features Donnie Herron, the secret weapon of the band, as he let's it rip on lap steel, fiddle and mandolin. I happened to see the band just after they released this CD and it was a memorable performance. I think that this CD highlights the original band line-up very nicely. This band always struck me as one of being very talented and a bit off the radar screen of many music fans. It's really too bad because BR5-49 could (and can) dish it with the best of 'em. This is a good country CD and very enjoyable.

With only two studio CDs and one live EP behind them, BR5-49 could have not release this CD fast enought. Being a big fan of the band and digging their music so much that I could not go a day without it, my hunger for a new release from the world true C&W band was at its peak. Having not seen them perform live, this new live recording along with the EP Roberts will keep me satisfied untill they do play a show close to my home. Coast to Coast has more of a rock n' roll feel than Roberst which is fine with me. It really comes across in their live shows and studio recording how much fun they are having in creating this great music. The editorial review for Big Backyard Beat Show stated that the orginial songs by the members did not measure up to the covers songs, but that is totally wrong. BR5-49 has written many songs that can stand with the classic songs they recorded. Anyway, untill they come to the Hampton Roads area where I can see them, and until the next studio CD, Roberts and Coast to Coast will be my ticket to their live show. Please feel free to e.mail me for anyone who wish to share some thoughts on BR5-49 lucas@odu.org