Customer Reviews

Okemah & The Melody of Riot

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I am still reeling from the one-two punch of seeing Son Volt live at the "WXPN All About the Music Festival" in Camden, NJ this weekend, then coming home and listening to their new CD. It's a passionate, heartfelt-from-the-heartland, politically-charged, inspired work of roots-rock. Jay Farrar has put together an all-new band (and apparently, even since the recording sessions, Chris Frame has replaced Brad Rice as lead guitarist). There is definitely more of a rock than an alt-country edge to this record, which may put off some long-time fans, but personally I think they've never sounded better. It's hard to pick highlights on such a solidly fine recording - it bolts from the gate with "Bandages and Scars" and never lets down from there. "Afterglow 61", "Jet Pilot" and "Gramophone" are probably the very best of the rest. Then there's "Medication", an Eastern-tinged tune and as close to a progressive departure as the album takes. I wished the song were longer, after hearing an incredible extended live performance of it at the festival, and Jay's mesmerizing solo acoustic version on the DVD side of this disc. (The DVD side of this "Dual-Disc", by the way, is also very good, with a documentary about Farrar's reforming of the band, interspersed with live performances, including "Joe Citizen's Blues", which should have been included on the audio CD.)

Farrar admits to Woody Guthrie as a major inspiration, but Neil Young is another obvious influence. Since Uncle Tupelo's breakup, Jeff Tweedy has led Wilco down an increasingly adventurous path (sometimes self-consciously so), while Jay Farrar has stayed the course with Son Volt's sound. And I have to admit, I'm enjoying this CD more than I did the last Wilco release, "A Ghost Is Born". Son Volt aims for the heart more than the head, and this time they've hit a bulls-eye.

Okemah and the Melody of Riot is an incredible album - and not just because it sounds great. It's a record that feels important. There are big issues at play here, world affairs to discuss. The legacy of Woody Guthrie to continue. But it's also a record of hope and a record of simple, American pleasures - a music and history lesson as you drive down Highway 61, the magic of vinyl records, the redemptive power of music.

Musically, this album rocks. Fantastic electric guitar work from Farrar and Brad Rice on Bandages and Scars, Afterglow 61, Who, Jet Pilot, Endless War, Six String Belief, Chaos Streams. Atmosphere features the tempo changes Farrar used to great effect in Uncle Tupelo. But Okemah is not just a collection of rock songs. Gramophone is simply gorgeous with a rich sound - organ and guitar complimenting Farrar's harmonica until the killer ending guitar solo. Medication has an Eastern feel with slide dulcimer and alternate tunings. Ipecac is a great change of pace song in the middle of the album. World Waits For You starts out with Farrar's piano alongside pedal steel guitar before the whole band fleshes it out in the reprise.

The lyrics take this album to the next level. Okemah is of course Woody Guthrie's hometown and Farrar references him by name in the album's opener. It's clear Farrar has been "doing a lot of thinking" about the world, the country and music. This album is cohesive - I'd almost call it a concept album but that brings to mind Pink Floyd or something and it's not exactly in that vein. Jet Pilot takes a poke at our current Commander In Chief specifically and privileged leaders in general. In Endless War, Farrar wonders how another wrong makes a right. 6 String Belief calls for a grassroots revolution to recapture what's been lost in the music industry in the age of consolidation and saturation. Afterglow 61 speaks of history breathing on America's famous highway. Chaos Streams has that magical Farrar wordplay - "from the dying dust a marauding shine for the shed skin soul."

Simply put, I can't get this album out of my player. Great melodies, great tunes, lyrics to absorb and reflect upon. Farrar's voice has never been better.

The reviews that question whether this band should be called Son Volt, and note that Farrar is the only original member, are laughable. It's not as if Mike Heidorn has an all new band and is calling it Son Volt. This is Jay Farrar for crying out loud. He IS Son Volt. It's always been his band, his record contract, his music, his lyrics, his vision. That's not to say the Boquists and Heidorn are not great musicians who did fantastic work on and brought their considerable skill to the first 3 Son Volt records - they did. Jay wanted them back for this album. When it didn't work out, Farrar says he was devastated. But he moved on, assembled a killer new band, and created this masterpiece. There's an edge to it musically that might not have materialized with the old lineup. I think it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

A reviewer here says it's not Son Volt because there's no pedal steel. There's pedal steel all over Farrar's last studio solo album, Terroir Blues. And pedal steel player Eric Heywood is on several songs on Terroir Blues, just as he is on the first two Son Volt records. Yet Terroir Blues is clearly a solo effort for Farrar - it's a little more experimental, a little less traditional. Okemah and the Melody of Riot is clearly a Son Volt album. It's not an abundance of pedal steel that makes it Son Volt. It's Jay Farrar's lyrics, music, feel. It's the beauty and power that comes out of 4 musicians mostly playing live in the studio, and capturing that essence on a record. These are Son Volt songs. They demanded to be heard in this style. And the results, with the great new musicians Farrar assembled, are astounding.

And I'll add, since I've seen a couple of 1 star reviews here simply because the reviewers couldn't get the cd to play in their system .. this cd is a dual disc. One side is the CD, the other is a 30 minute DVD that has footage of the making of the CD and some live Son Volt and Farrar solo performances (great stuff by the way.) I have had no issues whatsoever playing this CD or the DVD. The music side of the CD plays in my computer, my CD player on my stereo and my 10 year old CD walkman. The DVD side also has the album in enhanced stereo.

This is the record that fans had hoped Jay Farrar would record in the near future. But also, I think most of Jay's fans would admit, there remained some unspoken but palpable doubt that Farrar had this type of record left in him. After two good-but-not-great solo albums, I had begun to fear that Farrar had reached a point in his career that made the old Son Volt sound a thing of the past, irrecoverable to the artist who had crafted it. But Jay has made a return to form with 'Okemah,' and some of his brilliant career's brightest moments are right here on this disc. The first four tracks amount to one of the most powerful openings of any record I've heard. From the opening strumming of "Bandages and Scars" it becomes clear that this is the loudest Farrar has played since Uncle Tupelo's 'Still Feel Gone' record 14 years ago. "Afterglow 61" is American rock 'n' roll at its finest, and the voice in the song is as distinctly American as those Farrar references in the song: Mark Twain, Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly), and Bob Dylan. Farrar's apocalyptic view of the world, inspired by his displeasure with the Bush administration, is clear from the beginning of 'Okemah,' and he takes direct aim at "Junior" as he calls W in the rocking "Jet Pilot," which features a soft, electric guitar riff as gripping as anything Son Volt has recorded to date. The driving tempo and dusty guitars of "Atmosphere" calls to mind 'Straightaways' "Cemetary Savior" and "Left A Slide," and the chorus in "Atmosphere" features a classic Farrar melody that will give the Farrar faithful welcome chills. "6 String Belief," which many have heard on a previous Jay Farrar solo live recording, is juiced up and electrified, making an already good song great with blistering lead guitar. And it is another that will eventually get grouped with other classic Farrar compositions. I have given this record four stars rather than five solely because of the tracks "Ipecac" and "Medication," which sound like leftovers from Farrar's solo work - good, but perhaps out of place on 'Okemah.' But Son Volt's record is just that, a Son Volt record - same great and distinct sound, same rich and mysterious songwriting, this time with amps cranked to 11.

Jay Farrar is as important to rock as Neil Young, and in many ways he is very much Neil's spiritual and musical progeny. Perhaps no more so than on OKEMAH, as fine a CD as he has been a part of since UT's ANODYNE, or the Son Volt classic WIDE SWING TREMOLO. The newly assembled members of SV are positively in the pocket of every song and not since with working with UT has Farrar seemed so completely on the right track every note of the way. Listening to this CD and its DVD flipside put me in mind of Young's FREEDOM in terms of the energy, commitment and subject matter.
Young was railing against the first Bushwhacking, Farrar has the Texas Whacker clearly in mind in quite a few of these songs. Channeling the spirit of Woody Guthrie in the opening track, Farrar goes neck high in the big muddy slur and spin of the oil and christian fascist privateers at play across America. He never lets up. Whether coursing down Highway 61 or the currents of the Chaos Streams, Farrar is painting a picture of America that is on an edge it is unaware of, lulled asleep by visions and polemics as fanatical as those who would take down buildings with planes, schools with kidnappings, subways with backpacks. The Endless War he rails against begins on the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific and proceeds to his dearly beloved heartland.
This is an album of fierce passion. It rocks with a sense of mission and the ballads are certainly not weepers. His 6 String Beliefs are infused with a fervour of the deepest revellation and he is not about to sacrifice these for the powerful intrusions of a band of usurpers. Musically, his lead work is exceptional, and the support from SV is amazing in every song. Pedal Steel treatments, piano effects, the percussive driving attacks serve the songs as perfectly as anything I've heard this year. Superb arrangements leave you with the impression that this could easily have been first takes that nailed the sings perfectly, it's just that immediate.
When it all resolves into World Waits For You and its reprise, you have been on an exhilarating experience. This is a stellar achievement for Farrar. Long May You Run.

This is a solid, guitar-driven album. And Jay's vocals are just fine, if a little too far back in the mix on some songs. The lyrics are sparse but effectively crypitc. So it seems unfair to complain, because this is a surprisingly good CD. But it just doesn't sound like a Son Volt album to me. Don't get me wrong- I don't need Jay Farrar to constantly rerecord "Windfall" and "Tear Stained Eye" (two of the most beautiful songs ever recorded, IMO). But I miss the fiddle, steel pedal and other acoustic instruments that were signatures for Son Volt. I suppose Jay can record with anyone that he wants and call it whatever he wants, but for the life of me I don't know how this isn't a solo album for him. But I'm glad he's back, and I'll certainly continue to listen. I hope that Jay Farrar and Son Volt or whatever incarnation he chooses to take next gain the popularity and success that they deserve. He's one of the best modern American songwriters, the music is top notch despite what is missing from it, and this music should be heard by anyone who believes that rock is dead or dying.

Son Volt has been my favorite band for over a decade. Seriously, I listen to Trace, Straightaways, and WST over and over and never get burned out. There is not another band that I can do that with. The music on those three discs is like nothing I have ever heard; Left a Slide is hands down my all time favorite. Farrar's solo albums and older music with Uncle Tupelo are great as well, but not quite like the above mentioned three discs. Last year, through bits and pieces of news, I had thought that Son Volt was broken up and that was it. When I heard through Amazon that Son Volt released a new album, I hollered to my wife with excitement and joy. There is a slight change in style but that great Son Volt sound can be heard. The music doesn't seem to be as melodous as the first three discs. It sounds a little faster pace than the older stuff, which takes away from the traditional Son Volt style somewhat.
Bottom line, I am pleased I purchased the CD. If I ever get the chance, I would like to shake Farrar's hand and buy him a cold drink for being such an excellent musician and providing me with music that I shall listen to for the rest of my life.

I wanted to alert fans to the recent concert recorded at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. by NPR (10-21-05). It can be downloaded in its entirety on NPR's All Songs Considered website for free. It's a kick-ass concert from beginning to end. All the old favorites are here plus tracks off the new album. It's burning out my iPod---I'm just waiting for the obsession to subside. Don't miss it!

Okemah and the Melody of Riot is definitely in my short list of "Best CDs of 2005." I first became familiar with Son Volt when a friend turned me onto Trace, and I absolutely fell in love with the sound. The current offering by Jay Farrar et al. is a bit more polished than Trace, which is both good and bad. Despite being more commercial, I found every song on the CD to have it's own unique hook and energy. I also greatly appreciate the social/political message in many of the songs (e.g. Jet Pilot). Bottom line...this is an outstanding CD and I have recommended to many of my music loving friends.

I will be the first to admit, that I did not care for this album the first time I heard it. The second time I listened to it? Did not really care for it. HOWEVER, after the third and fourth times, man, indescribable. I now cannot get this CD out of my CD player, I love it. "Jet Pilot" and "Afterglow 61" are just two of the brilliant songs on this CD. I guess what I am saying, is buy it, then listen to it several times and a light will come on, and you will become a Son Volt fanatic. Jay Farrar creates this subtle brilliance in all of his songs. The guitar hooks are cleverly disguised, but they are there. However, the real brilliance is found in the great lyrics. Uncle Tupelo is proud of his extremely talented nephew.

"The revolution will be televised!" - excerpt from "Jet Pilot"
Alright, so Mr. Farrar replaced most of his band...and I'm saying, it's gonna be alright. Easily SV's best album since "Trace", those who wish to disagree can have their own opinions. It's all here, the sound I fell in love with, steel guitars, low, almost moaning lyrics and a great sense of melody.
Some of the songs, "Jet Pilot" in particular are a tad overt in their politics but it's still a catchy cut. Every tune on this release is solid. The CD has been in my dash for two weeks straight now and I'm still not tired of it yet. It took a long time to get another album out of Son Volt, but it was worth the wait. Living in St. Louis, I got to see them many times. I haven't set foot in Mississipi Nights since their last show there, no Son Volt, no point. I'll be in line when they come back.