Killers and Stars

Patterson Hood

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 4, 2004)
• Original Release Date: May 4, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: New West Records
• ASIN: B00020HAO2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,257 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"I recorded killers and stars, by myself in the dining room of the house where i was living, in early March, 2001. I had just gotten divorced, was fighting with the band (Drive-By Truckers) and a good number of my friends. I was feeling pretty freaked out and isolated and this album was my therapy. Most of the songs were new. I recorded the album in two consecutive nights, then ran down some rough mixes myself (with no outboard sweetening at all) about a week later. I hastily pressed up a few hundred copies, made a cover for them, and sold them at my solo shows as a '1st draft/work in progress.'

Then the band hit the road and spent the next 14 months touring. killers and stars sort of got left behind. I really all but forgot about it. We were all busy writing and recording for our next album, touring, and just day-to-day living.

A couple of years went by and copies of the album kept getting passed around. Occasionally i would press up a few for some solo shows here or there and occasionally I would give some thought to actually finishing it. Recently I dug a copy out and gave it a serious listen. In some respects it was like listening to someone else. Most of the demons that inspired these songs have long since been laid to rest (or at least replaced by others), but the album kinda holds up for what it is."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Low-Fi Masterpiece, April 12, 2005

By	Ouija (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews

Every once in awhile a singer or a band releases a diamond in the rough. That's the case with Patterson Hood's Killers & Stars. You might know Hood as the venerable leader of the very cool Drive By Truckers, one of the best bands out there today.

Hood recorded Killers in 2001 at his dining room table during a low point in his life personally and professionally. The band was in limbo and he was in the process of a divorce. The result is a CD that's low fi and dark, but brilliant nonetheless.

With the songs consisting just of Hood's voice and acoustic guitar, there's a certain rawness here. And that's a good thing, because Killer's songs are just that - raw. Hardship, uncertainty, frustration, melancholy and resignation are all in evidence.

The songs are all great, but I especially like Pay No Attention to Alice, a cover of a song written by country great Tom T. Hall about a friend of his whose wife was an alcoholic. And Frances Farmer is another great song. Farmer, of course, is the tragic actress that went off the deep end in the '40s. Back then they called it manic-depressive psychosis. Today the neat term for it is bipolar. Maybe Hood understood how Farmer must have felt when she was carted away to a nut house against her will and given shock treatment. Anyhow, that's a glammed up Farmer you see on the cover.

Enough about that. Buy this CD right now.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars patterson hood's raw brilliance, May 11, 2004

By	scott neal (newton, nj usa) - See all my reviews

this album is absolutely insanely beautiful. what a release like this could do for patterson's career and popularity is amazing...if it were to be heard by the masses.
these are the songs neil young wishes he wrote. the lo-fi sound and atmosphere is brilliant and i don't think that a slickly-produced version of this album would be nearly as captivating. this is a must buy for anyone who thinks he knows what real, heart-felt music is.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm happy he released it, April 19, 2005

By	the heckler (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

First of all, I admit that I don't own a single Drive By Truckers CD--something I plan on taking care of. I bought this CD on a whim after listening to clips of "Uncle Disney" and "Rising Son" and being very impressed. When I was able to listen to the complete CD, I immediatly fell in love.

This CD could have easily been cleaned up but, thankfully, it remains beautifully lo-fi and raw. From creaking chairs to string noise to the occasional off-key lyric, KILLERS AND STARS is a brutally honest recording even if you choose to ignore the intelligent songwriting. Hood's voice embodies each song like a backporch storyteller revealing more character with each note.

This is a real folk album done right. I wouldn't change a thing.