Customer Reviews

La Peste

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have the first album, then La Peste may take a little adjusting. The blues/country balance has shifted bluesward, resulting in a much darker sound. Even when they are joking around, the humor is darker than the first album. The songs all seem to tickle something sad in the subconscious. There's despair and anger behind much of the lyrics. The second thought that went through my mind as I listened for the first time was, "Who died?"

The first, thought was, "This is better than the first album."

And, after a few days, I definitely still feel that way. The first album was great despite the gimmicky feel, but on this disc, you'll find a lot less of the Reverend Love preaching and much more serious musicianship. A3 has re-engineered the path from blues to modern music and merged the two without the baggage in between. The result is a completely new sound that feels like it should have been there all along.

It must be hard to figure out whether or not you really want to buy this album. There are no 30 second clips here, no overarching hit songs. The mood of "La Peste" is definitely darker, as some have pointed out, but I think "poignant" is a more apt adjective. There is yearning, longing, and sorrow with a tinge of hope creeping through every now and then. I think of Leonard Cohen's song, "Anthem", when Cohen sings, "There are cracks, cracks in everything/ That's how the light gets in."

Favorite tracks: "Too Sick to Pray," "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlife," and "Wade into the Water." The stand-out track on this album (the way "Woke Up This Morning" was the standout track on "Exile in Coldharbour Lane") would have to be "Mansion on the Hill."

If you have access to iTunes, you will be able to hear the clips there. For some reason, the cover of "Hotel California" is not available through iTunes, so if you realize that you must add "La Peste" to your music collection, buy the physical album.

I just received A3's new album, "Outlaw." It is available in the UK but not yet here in the States. I am enjoying it quite a bit, especially the songs "Honey in the Rock" (many of the words taken directly from the "O Brother Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, in a rather humorous way), "Hello... I'm Johnny Cash," and "Keep Your Shades On!"

Yes, I'm a fan.

Yeah, it's not as weird as Exile....yeah, it's a bit more beat-heavy....yeah, it's probably gonna get a lot more club play...but it's still pretty odd. The first time I heard Exile, I didn't know if I should be overjoyed or scared - the words "lovin men, lovin women, lovin ALL of God's creatures" still make me giggle like a schoolgirl, and feel a bit wigged at the same time.

I suppose after having a hit with Woke Up This Morning, it was to be expected that La Peste would be more along those lines, and it definitely is. Peace In The Valley has turned into a dark dance cover of Hotel California. Woke Up This Morning is the awfully catchy Too Sick To Pray. Not that A3 has repeated themselves. The song structures, spoken word bits and all, still feel familar...but this album is a heck of a lot easier to dance to. The main difference is in the tone, and how it's achieved - on Exile, they seemed to rely mostly on the spoken parts, in all their quasi-religious-cult glory. On this one, that same mood is brought on by the music itself...the tracks are much more layered, and far darker in tone.

All in all, highly recommended. There's nobody out there like A3 right now, so just buy the cd and let it grow on you...then start converting the neighbors.

First, let me say that I loved Exile. I was kind of leery buying this CD as I'd heard so many people say that their style had changed so much from their first. And it has, but in a good way. Usually when one really likes a band's album we're generally disappointed by their "changes." Think Paula Cole from "This Fire" to "Amen." Reasonable, as we liked their sound, their style. But not this time. La Peste is an amazing CD. Bluesier than Exile, less Country, darker. It seems to have removed whatever small failings were on the first and seriously corrected it on the second. If only for the first two cuts on the CD, if you liked Exile, this CD is so worth buying. With a single exception, everything works, and it works beautifully.

You know how when you listen to a new CD it takes a couple of plays to know whether you like it or not? Within a minute and a half of my first listen, I was dancing around my house, in rapture. Buy this. It's worth every penny.

This is an excellent CD, I love Larry Love's black velvet voice! My favorites are Sad Eyed Lady, Wade into the Water, Hotel California and Cocaine Killed My Community, but all the cuts are excellent.

I loved Exile on Coldharbour Lane, and this too is a good album. In comparison to Coldharbour, La Peste is their come down album. I'm sure half of their friends OD'd and who knows what else since the release of Coldharbour. The reason I say that is because La Peste seems to have been written in a very dark place, and I don't mean an attic. Although this album is probably a product of a more mature A3, I don't know if that is necessarily a good thing. I happened to like the less serious and no excuse approach of their previous album.

If you do not have Exile on Coldharbour Lane, get it. If you do have it, and are considering picking this one up, you will have to adjust, but I believe that overall that this is a worthwhile addition.

A3 changed their style on "Le Peste" from the sound they had used in "Exile on Coldharbor Lane". With songs like "Too Sick to Pray" and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlife" it is evident of the musical maturity in their melodic harmonies and sound. The songs are more full than just the simple standard rhythms on the Coldharbor Lane album (which was also a good album). Though it is evident that they wanted to stick with the heavy bass tone of "Woke up this Morning" on their original album, which gave the song that cool laid back flow, they also decided to make this album more a serious artistic endeavor in the lyrical quality of their content in most cases. During the final track the album ends on a hopeful lyrical statement, "Everything's going to be alright." Hopefully the band is telling us, the listeners, that they're going to be around for a while, so that we can hear more of their "sweet sculptural rhythms."

Alabama 3 are one of the best bands around , they rock , great lyrics , sense of humour , and you could even dance to it should you be so inclined .

Alabama 3 (or, if you want to avoid a lawsuit, A3), is the perfect band for people who like the idea of country, but not necessarily the sound. While their first album, Exile on Coldharbour Lane, was a crafty and humourous mix of genres (you've got everything from gospel to blues to house to, yes, country), this album tones things down quite a bit, and adds shadows to A3's usually bright tones.

In most cases, those shadows highten the edge of the lyrics and the music, especially on the first three tracks: "Too Sick to Pray," "Mansion on the Hill," and "Sad-Eyed Lady of Lowlife." Their special acidic blend of country includes just a dash of gleefully grim hip-hop, and in spite of the gloomy vocals, these songs get the blood pumping.

"Cocaine (Killed My Community)" is the closest the band comes to the driving pulse of straight-up electronica (the mural of sounds that make up the backdrop to this song incorporate the noises that typically accompany drug use, specifically cocaine), and it is also one of the few moments on this album where the group's ambiguous (and satirical?) spirituality jumps into the foreground (a line from the chorus says that they "live in the light of the Lord"). "Walking In My Sleep" is also a heavily digital melody with some deliciously creepy lyrics and a thrum-thick bass line.

Some of the band's lighter and lankier side (the side revealed most acutely in the previous album) shows up in the final track, "Sinking," which is a story-song that borrows heavily from Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The final minutes of this tune are bright and rich and always put a smile on my face.

This otherwise wonderful and brilliant album isn't without its flaws, however. Their cover of "Hotel California" is both unnecessary and rather grating. Likewise, the dark gloom and precise harmonies that energize the rest of the record seem strained and abused in the over-emotive track, "Thrills."

In spite of these small imperfections, this is still a highly creative bit of work. Moodier than some may like, but no less well-played, and notable, if for nothing else, then for its inventive, inspired, and creative blend of humour, energy, and plain, old-fashioned musical skill.

The album isn't quite as individualistic as Exile (the band's first offering) but it's the first A3 (of "Woke Up This Morning" fame) album I purchased. La peste initially seems very commercial, but listen closer and the amount of effort put into this production shows, the bands roots are also showing albeit a little harder to pick out but percivere and you will be rewarded with a glimpse into the A3 psyche - fun, humurous and outspoken.