Customer Reviews

Decoration Day

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You can call Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley a lot of things, but insecure isn't one of them. Not since Lynyrd Skynyrd brought in a young Okie by the name of Stevie Gaines has a great rock band suppressed their egos and added a talented guitarist and songwriter of the caliber of Jason Isbell. Isbell, the new addition to the Drive-By Truckers' three-guitar attack, is absolutely spectacular, a fact to which anyone who has seen him shine on lead guitar duties during their current tour can attest. Based on the evidence from Decoration Day, the kid can write songs and sing 'em too.

Coming on the heels of the all-time classic, Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day had a lot to live up to. The DBT did the smart thing and seemingly wrote Decoration Day to please only themselves. It initially comes across as less accessible than its predecessor, but repeated listens reveal it to be a richly rewarding album. More than any DBT record before it, Decoration Day feels utterly anachronistic, like it was recorded before the CD era and should ideally be listened to on LP with all the attendant hisses and pops.

The stark opening cut, "The Deeper In" recalls Springsteen's Nebraska album both in mood and lyrical content. "Sink Hole" is a rave-up focusing on an issue near and dear to the heart of Patterson Hood, the collapse of family farms. "Hell No, I Ain't Happy" is typical ornery DBT. Patterson finally relinquishes vocal duties to the Stroker Ace, Mike Cooley, for a classic Skynryd- and Stones-inflected romp on "Marry Me". Songs like "Marry Me" just leave you shaking your head as to how the DBT fail to get airplay on your local rock radio station. "My Sweet Annette" is a pretty little song, even with Patterson and his delightful gravel-throated vocals up front. Isbell makes his first appearance on vocals on the arresting "Outfit" - a few listens to that song and you'll realize that this kid is amazing.

"Sounds Better in the Song" is another of the many highlights on Decoration Day. Cooley referred to it as a "love song" at a recent concert in Pittsburgh, even though it is about a woman who once shared his goals in life but eventually outgrew him and moved on. It's a wonderfully depressing song and hope for Cooley's sake that it is not based on something that happened to him. "Your Daddy Hates Me" recalls those classic Skynyrd blues ballads like "Cheatin Woman" and "I Need You". "When the Pin Hits the Shell" is where Decoration Day peaks. Cooley's on vocals again and, surprise, he's singing about something depressing - this time it's suicide. There's an extraordinary earnestness to his voice and the simple guitar solo after the first verse is one of the most beautiful musical passages I've heard in a long time. "Do It Yourself" is another suicide-themed song, though more upbeat with Patterson on vocals. "Decoration Day" features Isbell's second turn on vocals and again hints at the staggering potential this guy has as a singer and songwriter. To close the album, Cooley obliterates any chance that you aren't depressed yet by turning in yet another suicide-related song, "Loaded Gun in the Closet". It is a very fine closing track and even leaves some hope that the suicide won't occur, which you'll definitely appreciate by this point.

Whereas Southern Rock Opera is the sort of album you can blast at parties, Decoration Day is far more introspective. The best I've ever heard Decoration Day sound was on a recent sweltering Sunday evening while I was relaxing on the couch with the ceiling fan circling overhead. I worry a bit that with the addition of Jason Isbell, there is now too much songwriting talent in the band for everyone to get their chance in the spotlight. Hopefully, the DBT are good enough friends to overcome any inherent tensions related to the number of songs each guitarist gets to write for future albums. I'm sure every DBT fan has his or her own opinion on the topic, but I think that Cooley is the premier songwriter in the band (by just a shade). However, if you sit down and listen to Patterson's "The Deeper In", Isbell's "Outfit", and Cooley's "When the Pit Hits the Shell", you'll immediately grasp why there are three reasonable opinions on this matter. I'm just thankful that there is a band out there as great as the DBT and urge you to support them and their uncompromising brand of rock music.

Brash and brilliant as Decoration Day is, Drive By Truckers sound on it like a band in transition. When they rock, hard and often, their sound comes straight from the muscle and rowdy tradition of the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the mostly overlooked Georgia Satellites. Hell No, I Ain't Happy is the template and while it is a great sing-a-long bar line of resentment, it's also probably the weakest of the CD's very generous fifteen cuts.

Decoration Day excels because where the Truckers were previously mostly a vehicle for front man Patterson Hood, they now showcase two more major writing talents, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell. With their contributions and Hood's own better compositions, it's as if the Truckers have mainlined some William Faulkner and Flannery O'Conner, put a whole new true twist on all those tired Southern traditions and cliches. So we get Hood's sympathetic tale of incest, The Deeper In ("..but you took to his jawline and his long sandy hair. How he made you feel like none of the others."), Cooley's rocking Marry Me ("rock and roll means well but it can't help telling young boys lies" or "there's a fool on every corner, on every street, in everyone/and I'd rather be your fool nowhere than go somewhere and be no one's"), Isbell's Outfit (a father's lesson in pride to a son), back to back songs of survivor anger at suicides (When the Pin Hits the Shell and Do It Yourself) and, finally, the spare acoustical Loaded Gun in the Closet. In each of these songs and several others, the scenes and characters are so quirkily and sharply drawn that you feel them alive right beside you.

An even more interesting question than the accomplishment of Decoration Day is what happens next for the band. If the creative egos can co-exist and not implode in their competition, Drive By Truckers are likely to become the standard by which all future hard-rocking Southern bands will be judged.

Aside -- if you're impressed, as I clearly am, see the Drive By Truckers live. They clearly inherit the Stones and James Brown crowns of hardest working band in show business. They, with their female bassist a recent addition, played nearly three hours at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle where I saw them and it was some of the best twelve bucks I'd ever spent. Not least because of their Play It All Night tribute to Warren Zevon -- "play that dead man's song/Turn the speakers up full blast, Play it all night long." They did, they did, and they damn near did.

Incredibly talented band. This, their newest album, is their best yet. All three of the band's songwriters, Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and Jason Isbell, are great. I like Jason Isbell's song, Outfit, the best on this album, but they are all fresh. His guitar playing is monumental. Mike Cooley has a great deep voice and writes songs that would read well as short stories. Patterson Hood, a natural frontman, kicks the album off with a rolling story song that grabs me every time I hear it. This band has been appropriately compared to Lynard Skynard. The suprising thing is that they pull off that southern feel without sounding cheesy, sarcastic, or imitative. This is the logical extension of southern influenced rock and punk that should of came out of the seventies. These guys may have even been capable of saving music in the eighties. Too bad they were too young. If you like guitars and good songs without any of the bs spandex eighties nonsense, buy this album, pop open a beer, and rock the hell out.

...the best rock band in America today. Hear me now and believe me later: Brilliant on record, and utterly phenomenal live, the DBT's have revived the art of rock (Southern and otherwise), with heart, soul, humor, intelligence, and venom. The first band to have truly awed me in a very long time. Having started out with "Decoration Day", I've been working my way through their back catalog, and the more I hear the more hooked I become. They just can't seem to do any wrong. And the forthcoming "The Dirty South", which I've heard in its entirety, finds the band continuing along the same stellar path. Whatever preconceived notions you might have about "Southern Rock", do yourself a favor and forget about them. Buy every one of their records, and see them live. It will change your life. Trust me.

This is another great release by the Drive-By Truckers. While I think there are some filler songs ("Sounds Better in the Song", "Careless", "Your Daddy Hates Me"), the rest of the album is great rock or sweet jangly music. Patterson Hood is constantly talking about the "duality of the Southern thing." I wonder if he applies that to the sweet music and heartbreaking lyric combination of their songs.

Like all DBT albums I am familiar with, this one starts out with a tune that takes a left turn and grabs your attention. "The Deeper In" is about an incestual relationship between two consenting adults. When you hear the twang in Patterson's voice, one might assume this story takes place somewhere in the south, playing on stereotypes. But leave it to Patterson to drop a ten-ton heavyweight on your head with the final line, "Seven years in Michigan..."

The thing about this album is the body count. The second song tells the story of a man losing his farm owned by his family of five generations. To secure his farm, the man kills the banker. "Sinkhole" is a rocker with a great riff and won't leave your head for a long time.

"Hell No, I Ain't Happy" is a great rockin' tune about life in a band on the road. Mike Cooley's first contribution on the album is next with a great Stonesy "Marry Me" and gets the award for being the most positive song on the album. This gem is straight off rock radio, circa 1976.

Then comes a jangly section in the middle of the album which includes "Heathens" and "My Sweet Annette," both beautiful songs sung by Patterson and his raspy voice, a great "duality." Great hangover music. Also in this section is Jason Isbell's first contribution, "Outfit," which is a mid-tempo rocker with a nice guitar solo. I am not ashamed to admit I couldn't listen to or sing this song for about six months without the subject matter making me cry.

"Something's Gotta Give (Pretty Soon)" could have been on Whiskeytown's "Pneumonia." The bridges in this song are fantastic. It's a great mid-tempo rocker about a broken relationship.

The body count continues in the suicide section, where you get to hear Cooley's fantastic "When the Pin Hits the Shell." There is a sweet Fender-Rhodes sounding piano solo in the middle of this laid back tune. Patterson follows up with raucous "Do It Yourself" which kind of reminds me of the same feel as Tom Petty's "Jammin' Me."

The title track, also penned by Isbell, is a throwback to Skynyrd and an homage to alternative country all blended into one blowout of a song. In this song alone, the storyteller is beaten, beats up a kid "until he just couldn't walk anymore" and has his daddy get "shot right in front of his house." Not to mention the number of dead brothers all due to a family feud. If it wasn't a great song at that, it whips some serious booty with the tornado/guitar coda. Beautiful country rock masterpiece.

Finally, Cooley leaves us with the mellow "Loaded Gun in the Closet," which is sweet and creepy at the same time, so you get the duality again.

Anyone who loves this album will have their favorites. These are mine. The three songs I didn't like just either rubbed me the wrong way or turned me off. "Your Daddy Hates Me" is kind of plodding, "Careless" is short and noisy and the lyrics aren't very inspiring, "Sounds Better in the Song" is a good story, but the quoting of "Lord knows I can't change" - a Freebird lyric, just turned me off.

If you like Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alt Country and straight forward rock and roll, you will love this album. If you like just one of those, there is something on this album for you.

After reading some of the negative "reviews" I felt I had to write one of my own. No, it's not earth-shakingly innovative but neither were the Rolling Stones (thanks Muddy Waters), not much music is truly innovative. Unless you're Bill Monroe, Kraftwerk, or a small handful of others, all music is derivative. When I listen to this I hear Steve Earle, The Replacements, The Stones and even a little Outlaws in a riff or two. And their ain't nothing wrong with that.
This CD has fine lyrics, a variety of styles. I described this CD to a friend this way. If Gram Parsons is Country-Rock, this CD is Rock-Country.
The comment about BMG giving it away...that's how I got mine and it turned me into a fan...mission accomplished. I don't know the motivation for BMG giving it away (they've done it with others), nor if it had anything to do with low sales, but let's not forget out there that Sales hardly equate with quality. This is a record buying public that fills the livingrooms of Fred Durst and Britney Spears with Platinum albums. 'Nuff said.
If you like Rock-n-Roll, if you like Country, if you like good music...buy this CD.

I read below that nothing on this album is original, everything derivative of greater bands since laid to rest (or in different incarnations). On the contrary, I believe Decoration Day to be wholly original. Drive-By Truckers sing from the heart and they sing the Truth. While I am from the south, I never experienced the heartache and anguish and poverty told explictly on this sad album, I've seen it firsthand. Don't tell me what they say is False and Unoriginal. While they clearly draw from Lynyrd Skynyrd and other bands of that vein, the Drive-By Truckers have synythesized their own unique sound for the 21st century. Besides, if you're going to emulate someone, why not emulate Skynyrd or the Stones (who I hear in their music, as well)? And how many other southern rock bands have you heard lately? This is one of the best albums I have heard in a long time and I plan to buy the rest of their cds very quickly.
Most of the songs on Decoration Day are about the hardships and sadness inherent growing up as a poor white boy in the South and nearly every song rings true with acoustic guitars and excellent electric and pedal steel guitar throughout. I - unlike most reviewers on this site - do not give out five stars easily, but this album certainly warrants it. If you are a fan of country, southern rock or rock in general, this is essential, even revelatory. I haven't heard lyrics this true in quite a while.

I had heard of DBT for several years, especially from the highly complimentary reviews of Southern Rock Opera. With the release of Decoration Day I was finally moved to give them a listen, so I picked up this cd without ever having heard the group.

From the opening lines of the first track I was sold. More than mere rockers, DBT are storytellers, with their songs covering a wide spectrum. From the fantastic song "Outfit", which was inspired by advice given Jason Isbell by his Father...to the contrasting views of Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood regarding the suicide of a mutual friend (the songs "When the Pin Hits the Shell" and "Do It Yourself", respectively) Decoration Day illustrates the breadth of this group's songwriting talent. The title cut is especially moving to me. Describing a feud between two families, this song is so real, so...well...Southern, that it still draws me into the story every time I listen to it.

This is what Southern Rock *should* be! This is where being rough and rowdy meets intelligence and passion, and the DBT give us music that is driving, sincere and real. This is heart and soul, and sweat and blood.

I have only mentioned a few of the killer songs you'll find on this cd. Go ahead, even if you haven't heard the Drive-By Truckers take the chance! I did...and it was well worth the risk!!!

You gotta hand it to the Drive By Truckers. Coming off the success of their 2001 breakthrough "Southern Rock Opera," they could have sold out and recorded an album of simplistic fist shaking numbers and cashed in. "Decoration Day," however, proves definitively that the Truckers care more about their art than commercial success. Long on harrowing stories and short on simple riffs and choruses, it takes several listens to fully appreciate.

Things start out on an appropriate note with the opener "The Deeper In," Patterson Hood's bizarre and tragic account of a brother-and-sister couple arrested after having four children. From there the highlights include, "Outfit," which advises a young southerner on the ways of life, the angry "Hell No I Ain't Happy," "Sounds Better in the Song," and the sadness of the "Loaded Gun in the Closet" finale. The sound of the album is actually softer than on "Southern Rock Opera," but still maintains its much needed rough edges.

Overall a solid album from a truly original band.

I had never heard of DBT until i saw them on an Amazon list of their latest cd The Dirty South being one of the top cds of 2004. I like southern rock, so i went out and got The Dirty South and this cd without hearing one cut from it or even knowing what they sounded like. I really enjoyed this cd a lot, though a few of the cuts were slight filler. Otherwise, if you took the sounds of Tom Petty, Steve Earle, The Eagles, Lynard Skynard, Allman Brothers, Neil Young, even a bit of 70s Rolling Stones and mixed it in a blender you would have the general sound and feel of DBT.The lyrics are included and are great. This is a must-have cd for fans of southern rock and bar band rock. I'm surprised that they are not more popular. They are definitely worth a listen. Nice to see there are groups out there making this kind of music still.