Chock Full of Country Goodness

Amazing Rhythm Aces

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 24, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Valley
• ASIN: B00000J78F
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,522 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Indie Music > Rock > Classic Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Though founding member Butch McDade sadly succumbed to cancer in November 1998, the remaining Aces have chosen to press on with 1999's Chock Full. Dedicated to McDade, the album would surely have pleased their fallen leader with its appealing blend of tastefulness and mirth, a blend that defined the Aces in their heyday. Combining Southern rock and soul with traditional country, the Aces show a firm command of a variety of settings: honky-tonk stomps, expressive ballads, jazzy Ray Price-style shuffles, Bakersfield truck-driving romps, gritty R&B. Russell Smith's voice has taken on an assured depth and a grainy soulfulness, and the band's playing is tight throughout. Sure, there are a handful of forgettable songs, but the many highlights recall the fine work of genre fusers like Commander Cody, not to mention vintage ARA as well. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars southern music fan, March 31, 2000

By A Customer

For heaven's sake buy this album and play it every day. Beautifully recorded and mixed this music reflects mixtures of Memphis blues rock, Nashville country and Knoxville hillbilly rock. Russell Smith sings a torch song with the best of them. Russell did a solo gig with a group called Run, C&W in the early nineties that was excellent. Memphis soul music played bluegrass style. If you ever see one (there were two), buy it and remember, buy this album. This is A+ music. How about some radio play program directors? These boys play real music.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deja vu all over again!, September 24, 1999

By A Customer

If you can't go back, you can come close, at least...it isn't 1977 and Butch McDade is irreplaceable, but Russell Smith sounds better than ever, the songwriting is still clever and why the Aces aren't more popular is a continuing mystery. The Rock puts anything by Tim McGraw or the Dixie Chicks to shame, but perhaps today's country fans, lacking the rich stew in which the Aces were simmered, are just clueless about what's good. De gustibus non est dispuntandem, y'all. More eclectic than Out of the Blue, and more like the Aces of Old, this album is a 10...and that's not a "4 with a 6 pack".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please Come to Atlanta, March 30, 2000

By	Gary Hosmer (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The universe is back in order. "Out of the Blue" was pretty good, but Chock Full... is vintage Aces. Russell's voice is magnificent, the quality of the recording itself is flawless and the songs - classic Aces. Buy it immediately, you'll not regret it. It brings back memories of the Aces performing at the Southeast Music Hall, 1979 in Atlanta, middle of June and the air conditioner broken. Combatting the heat by pouring pitchers of beer on our heads and in our mouths, it was one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. I sure hope they tour again and come to Atlanta