Dog Days

Blue Mountain | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 25, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Roadrunner Records
• ASIN: B000000H5V
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,539 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the Best Southern Rock Ever Recorded, December 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Dog Days (Audio CD)

"Dog Days" is of a piece with the place it was recorded. Lead singer Cary Hudson exudes the feel of Mississippi in his songs and writings, and those of you who have lived here know what I'm talking about. The images of driving around county roads drinking beer in "Blue Canoe," the summer abandon recorded in "Let's Go Running," the first radio station in Jackson, MS, celebrated in "ZZQ," the hauntingly beautiful Elvis story told in "Epitaph"--they all are of a piece with this state and the experiences of the people who live in it. This doesn't come through in lyrics alone, Hudson's very voice rings evokes the backroads and front porches of Mississippi. As Faulkner, another great writer from Oxford, wrote, "We don't claim the land; it claims us." But Blue Mountain achieves true greatness by embodying and transcending their roots at the same time. Their style will appeal to anyone who enjoyed the classic rock of the 70's, like CCR, Neil Young, and Pure Prairie League. And, as much of a fan of both of them as I am, they do this in a way Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy cannot.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best ever, January 30, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (near Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dog Days (Audio CD)

Being someone who has been involved in programming music on rock and popular radio stations for the last 15 years I have heard thousands of artists and countless acts with dozens of records. But few have ever impressed me as much as the Blue Mountain debut. The album holds together well, but the real strength is in the songs - each one a unique story and all very musically different and fresh sounding. The lyrics weave a tapestry of insight into life snapshots. The music is unique yet rocking. I finally saw them live on July 4, 1998 at tiny Fitzgerald's Pub outside chicago and their live show was true to form. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and I can assure you, I've heard them all.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A better Dog Days, December 4, 2008

By 

E. Payne (Jackson, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dog Days (Audio CD)

Blue Mountain may be one of the best and least known of the alt-country / rock groups that emerged in the 1990s (e.g., "Uncle Tupelo"). And "Dog Days" would have to rank as their "Sgt Pepper's"--only "Dog Days" is a lot less mannered and a lot more danceable. So let's say it is their "Exile on Main Street." The focus is southern (the 3 band members hail from Mississippi / Louisiana) but the music's appeal is universal. Cary Hudson is a fine singer / songwriter and a hell of a guitar player. Listen for some Neil Young influence in his ringing fretwork. Drink a couple of beers and crank it up. If you don't get into it, check your pulse--you may be dead.

Okay, okay. Much of this could have been said about the first CD release. What does the remastered CD have to recommend? Sad to say, the original mix was pretty murky. The vocals sounded muffed. Very muffed. The new mastering is a great improvement: no strain to make out the lyrics on this one. Plus there is the usual assortment of bonus tracks, at least one of which ("My wicked, wicked ways"--which appeared on a later CD) is up to the caliber of the 14 songs on the first release.

Blue Mountain disbanded around 2000. But defying the F. Scott Fitzgerald dictum that there are no second acts in American life, the trio got together for a one-off festival which unexpectedly lead to two CDs: a re-recording of their favorite original songs ("Omnibus") and one of new material ("Midnight in MS"). Both are also highly recommended. The band is currently (2008) touring to promote these and see what develops. Don't miss this, your second chance to see a very fine band.

PS: My rating of this CD is in no way influenced by the fact that one of the songs ("Hippie Hotel") is about the destruction of a venerable Oxford MS rooming house in which I once lived.