Gangstabilly (Dig) [Original recording remastered]

Drive-By Truckers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: New West Records
• ASIN: B0006ULW0G
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #137,911 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

These Alabama rockers achieved critical acclaim for 2001’s double-CD Southern Rock Opera, a two-act, Tommy-goes-to-Dixie opus juxtaposing the tragedy of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the life of the Truckers’ prolific songwriter and enigmatic vocalist Patterson Hood. But long out of print even before Opera’s release is the simpler and more impulsive 1998 debut Gangstabilly (also remastered and re-released on New West Records), a 48-hour live-in-the-studio jam session of boiled-over twang, double-barrel rock and roll and South-deprecating wit. While nothing is off-limits in Hood's Deep South reconnaissance--Faberge cologne, domestic violence, Led Zeppelin, Republicans in hell, Porter Wagoner, baloney sandwiches and '68 Bonnevilles--the Truckers tread on the imagery with reverence rather than mockery. A tribute to late actor "Steve McQueen" is faster than the car-chase scene in Bullitt. The crudeness-meets-reality of "Buttholeville" is as much white heat as it is white trash. And Hood’s "The Living Bubba," about an Atlanta musician dying of AIDS who "can’t die now cuz I got another show," turns from an earnest tribute to a "no preachin', no self-servin'" message from a band with a conscience--and a future. - Scott Holter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Auspicious Debut, August 23, 2002

By 

James F. Colobus (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gangstabilly (Audio CD)

I became a Drive By Truckers fan about 6 months ago when I acquired Southern Rock Opera and was instantly transported back to the York Terrace of the late 70s and early 80s ("when dinosaurs still roamed the earth"). In case you aren't familiar with it, York Terrace is (or at least was) a working class neighborhood in a town (which shall remain anonymous) in southeastern Virginia. While much of SRO is based on events that took place in the Deep South, it does a remarkable job of conjuring up the essence of life in the Terrace two decades ago as well. Lyrically and musically SRO is a masterpiece that I simply cannot recommend highly enough - particularly to anyone who came of age in the South of the 70s and 80s.

It was therefore with considerable excitement that a few months after acquiring SRO, I began to explore the Drive By Truckers' hard-to-find back catalogue. I just had to know whether the DBT had always been so good or whether SRO was the product of a gradual ascent to greatness. After a few listens to their debut album, Gangstabilly, I had my initially somewhat disappointing answer - the DBT simply did not start out with the consistent songwriting skills they would later display on SRO.

Still, Gangstabilly is by no means a bad album. To the contrary, most of the songs on it are quite good and several are exceptional. The opening cut, 'Wife Beater', pulls you in immediately with its southern gospel-inflected chorus, 'don't go back to him, he's a wife beater'. 'The Living Bubba' is an arresting up-tempo ballad that tells the tale of a musician with AIDS that will be painful to listen to for anyone who has lost someone close to them to that awful disease. 'Demonic Possession' is an upbeat number which features some mighty fine guitar pickin' and will at the very minimum have you gleefully stomping your feet, and might even get you dancing around the room if you are prone to such displays. 'Steve McQueen' is a catchy homage to the action movie star of the same name and will have you singing along in no time. 'Panties in Your Purse' is yet another wonderful DBT song that sounds like it was inspired by events that went down in the Terrace back in the day.

So, don't let anyone tell you Gangstabilly isn't worth owning. This is a fine album - just don't expect the songs to be as consistently good and flow together as seamlessly as they do on SRO. Of course, if you or I only listened to albums as good as SRO, we'd have mighty small album collections, wouldn't we? So, do the searching you need to do to get your hands on Gangstabilly and enjoy it for what it is - a fine debut from a band that would soon become even better.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic Southern Music for Modern Times, February 24, 2005

By 

Music Fan (Mountain View, Arkansas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gangstabilly (Dig) (Audio CD)

The recording and the band on this CD are not so well polished and the line-up is not the same as the current DBT, but this is an excellent piece of work. The pedal-steel player (no longer with the band) does a great job and provides a flavor missing from the band's most recent efforts. There is a sense of spontaneity in this live-in-the-studio performance. The songs are well crafted, provocative and entertaining. The entire package strikes me as very genuine. These guys represent a substantial segment of the modern South, without affectation or posing. The rough edges of the production work well with the content of the text and the timbre of the tunes. This is one very fine CD.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real deal, April 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gangstabilly (Audio CD)

This is REAL music - real stories, real scary, real funny. Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and company write songs about real southern life, and the music is alternately blisterting and haunting. Catch this band live! They're even better on stage than on this remarkable album. "Nine Bullets" and "Wife Beater" will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. "Steve McQueen" will make you laugh while you dance around. This is a great band that's only getting better..