Customer Reviews

Electric Rodeo

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Everybody who's anybody knows that, in the country music world today, the best music is not found in mainstream Nashville. It is instead found on the alternative scene--on hundreds of miles of two-lane highway; in a Texas honky-tonk; in the middle of nowhere, parked beneath the stars.

This is where Shooter Jennings enters the picture. The first question you must ask yourself: Is he following in his daddy's footsteps? The answer is, of course, yes--Waylon created the alt-country scene, by introducting attitude, honest songwriting, and superior musicianship. So of course Shooter is trying to live up to all that. Is he hanging on Waylon's coattails? That's something you'd have to judge for yourself.

I, personally, say it doesn't matter--not at this point in his career. Shooter Jennings is good--far better than his radio-friendly peers. Ignoring the frequent Waylon references on this album (once or twice would be oddly touching; when it's every other song, it's just a bit nauseating), we can judge Shooter's music on its own merits. And his music soars. His first album was pretty darn good; ELECTRIC RODEO is possibly even better. There are no tender love-ballads here (a superb hidden track closed out his debut record), but there are songs of living on the road, of the perils of life, of heartache, of living in someone's shadow, of the racist tendencies of swamp critters...everything. A humorous, sardonic tale of breaking up ("Aviators") stands beside the social commentary of "Alligator Swamp (The Ballad of Dr. Martin Luther Frog, Jr.)". From yearning for home to comparing life on the road to drug usage...ELECTRIC RODEO is a stellar contemporary alt-country record. Not the first of it's kind, not the best of it's kind--but probably better than much of what you've heard. Check it out. Does talent run in the bloodline? One thing's for sure--attitude still does. And, perhaps, quite a bit of talent, as well.

If you like country music but you think yer gonna puke everytime you have to suffer through a "country" song from Nashville these days, and you happen to like classic rock, you would probably appreciate what Shooter's trying to do here. Folks, this is the Real Deal. I don't mean real country or real rock - this is a hybrid - I mean he's making music that is honest and down to earth. A flash in the pan, he's not. He's going to be around for awhile.

Shooter Jennings is similar to his dad in a lot of ways...... but their main similarity is originality. On the one hand you've got this Nashville scene with people like Rascall Flats and Big and Rich who wouldnt know real country music even if it got drunk, beat the hell out of them, and ran off with their wives. On the other (at least where I'm from) there's this Texas Country that started out as original but is beginning to devolve into disposable music.....Shooter Jennings is neither... his music is the only music around that is really keeping outlaw country (real country) alive....he's got the strong rock influence (most people from the country listen to as much led zepp as they do george jones)..but he doesn't try to go punk with it like Hank III. The lyrics are about pain, loss, living through it, and paying the people back that did it to you.. what country is supposed to be about....not Ohh my woman left me ill have a good cry... like David Allan Coe says real country would be about How I Drank my wife away... or shot her for cheating on me... This album is better than Put the O Back.. and I loved that one

If you liked PUT THE O BACK IN COUNTRY, you will like ELECTRIC RODEO. It rocks harder then the original, and the musicianship of Shooter's backing band, the 357s, is a lot tighter. They are really melding together and showing a lot of impressive technical prowess.

The songs: on the positive side, this album has a LOT of strong tracks. White Lines, Bad Majick, and Electric Rodeo itself are excellent, kick-ass country rock songs. Some of the others I initially thought were weak (The Song is Still Slipping Away) have grown on me after repeated listens.

Shooter's lyrics are wry and witty, and delivered with great swagger and confidence. He should be around for a long time. It turns out he has a sense of humor, as well. Aviators is a hilarious send-up of the traditional woe-is-me country cliches, and the spoken dialogue at the end of White Lines is also very amusing. Other than that, he covers some new ground with the social commentary of Alligator Chomp...many of his other themes are similar to those on his first album, but these are still excellent songs.

I have been trying to avoid mentioning Shooter's father Waylon, but since Shooter doesn't shy away from it himself, why should I? I grew up listening to Waylon, and his spirit certainly lives on in his son. Shooter isn't riding his coattails so much as using what his father taught him as an inspiration for putting his own stamp on country. Last time out, it was pretty obvious who his influence were. This time, he's melding all of that into his own sound. It's still a work in progress, but he is doing a fine job...and this CD gives you way more than your money's worth.

Shooter Jennings has done it again! Electric Rodeo is ten times better than his debut album. I would sum this album's sound up as 1970's Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Waylon Jennings meets Hank Williams Jr. Southern rock infused country. It's easy to see Shooter want to take music, not just country but also rock music, back to what it used to be from the style he plays to the vintage looking cover art. He also has a lot of his daddy's ways and attitude in his music. What I really respect about Shooter is he honors his famous dad in his music, and takes some of what he's learned from him with him, but also does his own thing plays his own style. He's not trying to be Waylon Jennings Jr.and exploit his dad's great name. Ol Waylon taught this boy good.

Highlights of the album are:

"Little White Lines" a hard rocker a step up from Busted In Baylor Country. At times on this song and thru out the whole album, his voice sounds almost like Ronnie Van Zant.

"Some Rowdy Women" sounds a lot like Waylon on this one. It's even a song Waylon would have probably recorded 30 years ago.

"Aviators" and "The Song is Slipping Away" are excellent slow country sounding songs with Robbie Turner (Waylon's pedal steel player) playing steel. These are two more hardcore country sounding songs on the album. The spoken word parts on Aviators sound like something out of a Red Sovine song. Dynamite!

The rest of the album rocks out for the most part. "Electric Rodeo" a song about life on the road just flat out rocks while "Black Magik" sounds like Skynyrd meets Led Zeppelin. "Gone To Carolina" is a slow rocker and probably my favorite song on the album. It's got a good melody that gets stuck in your head.

The last track "It Ain't Easy" replaced the Hank Jr. cover "Living Proof" I think it was for the better since Shooter wrote the songs 4 years after his dad passed away. It seems more personal. Excellent track about what Waylon has taught him. Very touching.

I liked every song on the CD quite a bit, but I didn't care much for Manifesto No.2 as much as the other songs. I think it was crafted well musically, it just didn't do much for me. Maybe it will grow on me, like much of Put The O in Country was. All in all this is a supberb album! I think it will be the CD of 2006! Country and rock fans will both love this album. It's what music used to be like in the old days. Hopefully Shooter will get the respect and recognizition he deserves.

Prime Cuts: Aviators, Some Rowdy Women, The Song is Still Slipping Away

2006 is indeed the year of the Jennings! With copious compilations planned from Daddy Waylon's vast catalog, a brand new release by Mommy Jennings a.k.a. Jessi Colter in over 20 years, and this sophomore release from son Shooter, this is indeed a year of Jennings galore. Making little or no concession to country radio, "Electric Rodeo" finds Jennings going full Monty with his brand of Van Zandt-style Southern rock buttressed with earth shattering drums and that occasional nod to Waylon's honky-tonk balladry. Lyrically, the album vectors towards the darker suprcillious lifestyle with an effervescent indulgence in hedonism and wasteful squander to partying. This means there's no Hallmark inspired platitudes of romanticism or those little cursory homilies that so saturate today's country music. Rather, Jennings bares his soul without being apologetic of his prodigal ways, one that is given to drugs, rowdy women and heavy drinking.

As Jennings has suggested in a recent interview, the CD is front loaded with more personal tunes. But, when Jennings says "personal:" do not expect those maudlin and tepid tales of domestic bliss. For when Jennings longs for home on "Some Rowdy Woman," a subdued honky-tonk ballad, he is thinking of the chippies at Hooters to "pacify my mind." Though he does feel the transience of such a profligate way of life on the laidback "The Song is Slipping Away," but there's still an air of rugged defiant in Jennings' vocal nuances. And this is seen in its full glory on the roiling title track, where Jennings pushes all the buttons of riving hard-rock making him a graduate of the Jimmy Page/early Zep school.

The second half of the CD continues such a defiant rowdyism. With strokes of graphic ingenuity, Jennings paints for us a grotesque picture of the morning after a night of being wasted on "Hair of the Dog." Taking an unabashed asylum in herbs and shots, "Little White Lines" has a sad disposition that calls to mind those deciduous hippie days of the 60s. Just when you thought this rocker is full of hubris on the highway of booze and wild women, he does slow down for a moment of regret on "Aviators." Here, on this melodramatic ballad, this outlaw apologizes to his lady for getting drunk and hitting on your mom, slashing your daddy's tires and accidentally shooting your dog while hunting and telling you he ran away.

A diabolical tension exists in these 11 paeans: on one hand, Jennings realizes the transitory nature of wild living. On the other hand, he seems haunted by these ghosts associated with riding the "electric rodeo." It all seems not too long ago when Waylon Jennings' recorded a kids' CD "Cowboys, Sisters, Rascals and Dirt" for Shooter. And in the matter of these few years, this little "rascal" as Waylon would affectingly call, is now an octave-charged rebel. I guess that's the price for galloping the electric rodeo.

Shooter is just the best! Every review that said the good music is on the road and not in Nashville is so true! I saw Tim and Faith this past summer and it was a let down. Shooter is so much more a real muscian and talent. Good country / southern rock is alive and well with Shooter Jennings. I first heard these songs last New Year's Eve when I saw him in concert. I got the album on release day. It is the best. It reminds me of the music I grew up with--Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie, Waylon, with some old classic rock. You will not be disappointed if you are a southern rock/real country music fan! Go see him in concert too! The best!

This album has it all: *actual* country music, a couple of rockers and humour (Aviator). The music that's on here puts mainstream country radio to shame. See Shooter live if you get a chance. You won't be disappointed.

Shooter is back and still riding high. This CD is a pretty good CD. I love the southern rock style Shooter brings to the table.
My favorite song on this CD is Hair of the Dog. There are alot of other songs that come off here good as well but in the end I think this disc falls a hair short of his first master piece. Keep up the hard work Shooter and keep on keepin' on.
4 stars ****
WalkerWeiser

How great that in today's contemporary country scene so saturated with radio friendly sappiness like Rascal Flatts that a real raw country rock album can still be made. Shooter never falters and doesn't just deliver those stereo typical sappy made for radio singles like many country acts do. If only Shooter could find a larger audience, perhaps even ween those crazy kids off Rascal Flatts and onto the real deal.