Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now THAT'S what I call Country!!!, July 26, 2006
Very few people believe that I am a fan of country music because I'm rarely ever found listening to it. That's mainly because I find so much country music nowadays unimaginative, redundant and just plain boring. One paradigm I have long held onto is that great country music (just like great blues music) sounds like something you could imagine playing yourself on a back porch.
There are probably music purists who could pigeonhole my tastes into one aspect of country music (bluegrass or hillbilly, say), but I contend that my tastes are simply for Country Music.
With all of that said, it seems a shame to say that one of my all-time favorite country albums comes from a conglomeration of members from bands often categorized and punk and rockabilly. X and The Blasters are also bands I am quite fond of, so when I found out that members of both joined together to do some old country-blues tunes and even revise a little X, I was all over that record like white on rice.
This is fun music. Too much country nowadays just isn't fun, or if it pretends to be fun, it does so with a sour pretention of acting like everyone should act this way, but The Knitters nailed an album here that has such a come-along, sing-along feel, that I feel shame that the CMAs haven't nailed a copy of this album to the procemium of every awards show as a reminder of where the REAL heart of country music lay.
This is a great collection of songs. Songs about heartache or jail sung in a way that sounds genuine, not pretend. Like true country music, or the blues, songs of despair sit next to songs of love and joy. These are the emotions of life, told through charming and direct performances. Some of my favorites here are the title track (roadkill as a metaphor for life), Walkin' Cane, and if you aren't slapping your knee during Call of the Wreckin' Ball, you just don't have a pulse.
An added note: whenever I play The Kniters' version of "Rock Island Line," my 8 year-old can't help but just dance around the kitchen table. That's my hillbilly boy!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hillbillies are Entertainment, March 4, 2004
I've tried to explain this album to people for years; Redneck Idgits just don't get it.
However, true Country/Rock-a-Billy music wasn't meant to sound like Garth or Sheniwa (or however you spell it).
If anyone has heard a combo play such textured music this past decade let me know.
Link Wray, Dave Edmonds, and the city of Denver (who bought out the tickets for the last X show in under two hours), know good tunes.
Thank you for for your attention.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
x spots the mark, November 5, 2000
By A Customer
Finally back in print after several years in limbo, this delightful disc is an ad hoc collaboration between Exene Cervenka and John Doe of X, and a couple of Blasters. More country-oriented than the former group, more rocking than the latter, the folksy songs here give ample evidence that much fun was had by all involved, and the fact that this album inspired two tribute albums in its wake is a testament to its ultimate influence. Especially good are the title tune, the violently humorous "Call of the Wrecking Ball", and the closer, a light-speed rendition of the classic "Rock Island Line".
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