Rank Your DBT Studio Albums!

[Smitty]

DD
PD
TDS
SRO
EO
BTCD
GGB
GB
ABAAC
TBTD

[BB Coach]

1. Decoration Day
2. Dirty South
3. Southern Rock Opera

4. English Oceans
5. Brighter Than Creations Dark
6. Blessing and A Curse
7. The Big To Do

8. Pizza Deliverance
9. Ganstabilly
10. Go Go Boots

[Clams]

First tier:
Big To Do
Blessing and A Curse
Brighter Than Creations Dark
Decoration Day
Dirty South
English Oceans
Ganstabilly
Go Go Boots
Pizza Deliverance
SRO

Second tier:

Third tier:

[beantownbubba]

First tier:
Big To Do
Blessing and A Curse
Brighter Than Creations Dark
Decoration Day
Dirty South
English Oceans
Ganstabilly
Go Go Boots
Pizza Deliverance
SRO

Second tier:

Third tier:

Clams, the hanging chad of 3dd. Ballot disqualified.

[Slipkid42]

Clamsy = Mr. PC

The Dirty South - Carl Perkins, John Henry & those Boys From Alabama (not to mention that every other song is brilliant as well)
SRO - Southern Gothic a la Quadrophenia (minus the overture)
Decoration Day - best Isbell stuff & Your Daddy Hates Me
Pizza Deliverance - Love Like This alone almost pushes this into my Top 3, but it is rarefied air up there
ABAAC - Wednesday is sleeper gold, Aftermath is like the Faces reborn & the Jason songs aren't nearly as bad as some say. oh & Space City & WOH & Little Bonnie & GG
English Oceans - trimmed some bloat (even though I miss the pedal steel). lean mean boner ride w/a soaring finale. could grow higher up my list.
BTCD - about 2 too many Shonna songs from being higher in my rankings. 2 Daughters,The Righteous Path & Cooley gold cancel out that minor snivel.
Go-Go Boots - I Do Believe is my favorite opener. the Hinton covers are just dandy & UTBAC is sleazy good, but a Cooley slump, a Dancin' Ricky & one too many reverend songs diminish this somewhat.
TBTD - uneven but still quite good. decent rockers (Birthday Boy, Fucking Job, After The Scene Dies) mixed w/uptempo rockabilly (Get Downtown) & whatever type of sound the offbeat Wig is (or Drag The Lake for that matter), combined with the heavenly Santa Fe & my favorite Shonna song (You Got Another) give this album a scattershot feel. Girls Who Smoke should have been on the CD instead of say maybe Eyes Like Glue & some better sequencing & I might've had a higher opinion of this one.
Gangstabilly - raw production values keep this out of my Top 9. The Living Bubba, 18 Wheels, Steve McQueen, Panties & Sandwiches are keepers that any band would be proud of. if this is their worst album it means this band is pretty damn good.

[beantownbubba]

Clamsy = Mr. PC

The Dirty South - Carl Perkins, John Henry & those Boys From Alabama (not to mention that every other song is brilliant as well)
SRO - Southern Gothic a la Quadrophenia (minus the overture)
Decoration Day - best Isbell stuff & Your Daddy Hates Me
Pizza Deliverance - Love Like This alone almost pushes this into my Top 3, but it is rarefied air up there
ABAAC - Wednesday is sleeper gold, Aftermath is like the Faces reborn & the Jason songs aren't nearly as bad as some say. oh & Space City & WOH & Little Bonnie & GG
English Oceans - trimmed some bloat (even though I miss the pedal steel). lean mean boner ride w/a soaring finale. could grow higher up my list.
BTCD - about 2 too many Shonna songs from being higher in my rankings. 2 Daughters,The Righteous Path & Cooley gold cancel out that minor snivel.
Go-Go Boots - I Do Believe is my favorite opener. the Hinton covers are just dandy & UTBAC is sleazy good, but a Cooley slump, a Dancin' Ricky & one too many reverend songs diminish this somewhat.
TBTD - uneven but still quite good. decent rockers (Birthday Boy, Fucking Job, After The Scene Dies) mixed w/uptempo rockabilly (Get Downtown) & whatever type of sound the offbeat Wig is (or Drag The Lake for that matter), combined with the heavenly Santa Fe & my favorite Shonna song (You Got Another) give this album a scattershot feel. Girls Who Smoke should have been on the CD instead of say maybe Eyes Like Glue & some better sequencing & I might've had a higher opinion of this one.
Gangstabilly - raw production values keep this out of my Top 9. The Living Bubba, 18 Wheels, Steve McQueen, Panties & Sandwiches are keepers that any band would be proud of. if this is their worst album it means this band is pretty damn good.

Almost dime-like in its zen terseness. Great job, slip!

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Still too soon to say where English Oceans fits but after all these years, Gangstabilly remains my favorite. What others may see as it's flaws such as it's lo-fi production (which also holds true for Pizza Deliverance) and the lack of Cooley have never really bothered me. When I first got into DBT in the late 90's, these two albums (and eventually, Alabama Ass Whuppin') were all there were to choose from and got played endlessly. So, I'm sure that plays a part, as well Gangstabilly being my point of entry preceded only by the acoustic version of "Nine Bullets" from the Revival Vol. 2: Kudzu n' Hollerin' Contest comp on Yep Roc.

[RevMatt]

Still too soon to say where English Oceans fits but after all these years, Gangstabilly remains my favorite. What others may see as it's flaws such as it's lo-fi production (which also holds true for Pizza Deliverance) and the lack of Cooley have never really bothered me. When I first got into DBT in the late 90's, these two albums (and eventually, Alabama Ass Whuppin') were all there were to choose from and got played endlessly. So, I'm sure that plays a part, as well Gangstabilly being my point of entry preceded only by the acoustic version of "Nine Bullets" from the Revival Vol. 2: Kudzu n' Hollerin' Contest comp on Yep Roc.

What are your feelings about English Oceans? I see it as a sort of return to the AAW era, albeit by a band that is now fifteen years older and much more experienced. Perhaps what Van Morrison might have sounded like if, in the 1980's, he reformed Them.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Still too soon to say where English Oceans fits but after all these years, Gangstabilly remains my favorite. What others may see as it's flaws such as it's lo-fi production (which also holds true for Pizza Deliverance) and the lack of Cooley have never really bothered me. When I first got into DBT in the late 90's, these two albums (and eventually, Alabama Ass Whuppin') were all there were to choose from and got played endlessly. So, I'm sure that plays a part, as well Gangstabilly being my point of entry preceded only by the acoustic version of "Nine Bullets" from the Revival Vol. 2: Kudzu n' Hollerin' Contest comp on Yep Roc.

What are your feelings about English Oceans? I see it as a sort of return to the AAW era, albeit by a band that is now fifteen years older and much more experienced. Perhaps what Van Morrison might have sounded like if, in the 1980's, he reformed Them.

Even though others here have spent much more time with it, I'm probably only up to a little over a half-dozen listens (blame Lydia Loveless for the distraction) so I'm still in first impression mode. While it's a lean and mean Truckers, I see English Oceans more as a progression than a throwback. That's largely due to the expanded role of Jay as guitarist and the addition of Matt to the band. I think you'd also have to factor Cooley playing a more prominent role on this one into it as well. Plus, taking the Truckers into new territory by having Cooley cover Patterson. While the signature Truckers sound is still there, I hear this more as a revitalization than a revisitation, which is what the majority of bands tend to do at this stage of their careers.

[RevMatt]

Still too soon to say where English Oceans fits but after all these years, Gangstabilly remains my favorite. What others may see as it's flaws such as it's lo-fi production (which also holds true for Pizza Deliverance) and the lack of Cooley have never really bothered me. When I first got into DBT in the late 90's, these two albums (and eventually, Alabama Ass Whuppin') were all there were to choose from and got played endlessly. So, I'm sure that plays a part, as well Gangstabilly being my point of entry preceded only by the acoustic version of "Nine Bullets" from the Revival Vol. 2: Kudzu n' Hollerin' Contest comp on Yep Roc.

What are your feelings about English Oceans? I see it as a sort of return to the AAW era, albeit by a band that is now fifteen years older and much more experienced. Perhaps what Van Morrison might have sounded like if, in the 1980's, he reformed Them.

Even though others here have spent much more time with it, I'm probably only up to a little over a half-dozen listens (blame Lydia Loveless for the distraction) so I'm still in first impression mode. While it's a lean and mean Truckers, I see English Oceans more as a progression than a throwback. That's largely due to the expanded role of Jay as guitarist and the addition of Matt to the band. I think you'd also have to factor Cooley playing a more prominent role on this one into it as well. Plus, taking the Truckers into new territory by having Cooley cover Patterson. While the signature Truckers sound is still there, I hear this more as a revitalization than a revisitation, which is what the majority of bands tend to do at this stage of their careers.

My impression of the new record was colored by the half dozen live shows I caught in the year before its release. I sort of see EO as "Let's return to the format of the AAW days as the musicians we are today." Most musicians can never truly revisit their earliest days unless they are the sort of band who found a format and signature style and never really varied from it (Ramones, etc...). Westerberg couldn't really revisit Sorry Ma because of how much growth he made as a musician and songwriter after the band was signed to Sire. I look at The Truckers the same way. "Why Henry Drinks" became "Daddy Needs a Drink" which became "When He's Gone". All songs about difficult and dysfunctional marriages but fifty year olds endure icy silences and passive aggressive behavior instead of the screaming, knock out drag out fights where the neighbors call the cops.

[beantownbubba]

I see English Oceans more as a progression than a throwback. That's largely due to the expanded role of Jay as guitarist and the addition of Matt to the band. I think you'd also have to factor Cooley playing a more prominent role on this one into it as well. Plus, taking the Truckers into new territory by having Cooley cover Patterson. While the signature Truckers sound is still there, I hear this more as a revitalization than a revisitation, which is what the majority of bands tend to do at this stage of their careers.

Like.

[Zip City]

I don't hear very much of AAW in EO at all

[Tequila Cowboy]

I don't hear very much of AAW in EO at all

I hear it a little but where I really here it is in the live show. It sounds like that band many years later but as more seasoned better players. I don't think the Tucker-Neff versions sounded like that band much at all.

[RevMatt]

I don't hear very much of AAW in EO at all

I hear it a little but where I really here it is in the live show. It sounds like that band many years later but as more seasoned better players. I don't think the Tucker-Neff versions sounded like that band much at all.

I loved the Tucker/Neff edition of the band and will defend their legacy with DBT regardless of how it ended. In 2007 they were moving to larger venues and television shows like Austin City Limits. DBT also made a major move to position themselves as the current manifestation of the Muscle Shoals musical tradition; something that paid off in spades for the band. I don't think they could have pulled that off without Neff's exquisite slide/pedal steel/lead guitar and Shonna Tucker's country/soul approach. However, that edition of the band was not able to pull off the "big rock" album they attempted with TBTD. Shonna and Neff are great musicians but they are not punk rockers by anyone's definition and I believe they both would have felt bored and restricted playing the sort of shows the band has turned in this past year and a half. I think both Neff and Tucker have a studio musician's approach to their playing that is brilliant.

Matt Patton is a great bass player while, at the same time, has an indie rocker's pedigree. Brad Morgan is, IMO, the most underrated drummer ever. If a rhythm section can change bass players four times over a recording career (Malone, Hicks, Tucker, Patton) and still sound fantastic the drummer is usually the reason. The real interesting musical partnership form a guitar player's standpoint is Cooley and Hood. IMO, the way they work together is closer to Westerberg and Stinson than any other guitar partnership. Hood is an underrated rhythm player while Cooley's solos are totally unique. If you listen closely, he gets away with some of the craziest leads. I love the Bob Stinson era Replacements, especially Hootnany and Let It Be. On English Oceans Cooley plays like a countrified Bob Stinson.

In the months leading up to the English Oceans sessions Patterson, Jay and Brad did several van tours as a three piece. I think these tours were essential in helping Jay and the rest of the band explore what kind of role Jay would play in the newest, stripped down edition of Drive By Truckers. Jay was an interesting choice for the band as a keyboard player because as a musician he is a lot like Todd Rundgren. He is a great arranger and it wouldn't surprise me if the rest of the guys listen to his opinions when they are in the studio working out the parts.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

When I say, "revisit" I mean touching on or even quoting passages (consciously or unconsciously) from previous works as I've heard U2, R.E.M. and other artists do on some of their latter day offerings. Sometimes it may be an homage, sometimes it may be an outright acknowledgement of an older song. Sometimes that may work while on other occasions, it's a sign that the artist has run out of original ideas. I really don't hear any of that on English Oceans.

While Patterson and Cooley's solo forays definitely helped to inform the direction English Oceans would take (as well as revisiting Alabama Ass Whuppin'), I think Jay being able to stretch his legs live probably played more of a role than touring with Patterson. A few years back during a Charlotte show when Neff was still in the band, Jay came out to play guitar on "People Who Died" which was is when I first got the impression that he was a force to be reckoned with beyond his prowess on keys.

[Tequila Cowboy]

You missed Adam Howell in your bass player list.

But yeah, I agree with you that they were a different kind of band from BTCD through GGB. More country and more soul oriented at the same time. This version is about the Rock.

[TW_2.0]

DD
TDS
SRO
EO
PD
BTCD
ABAAC
GGB
GB
TBTD

[RevMatt]

You missed Adam Howell in your bass player list.

But yeah, I agree with you that they were a different kind of band from BTCD through GGB. More country and more soul oriented at the same time. This version is about the Rock.

Did Adam Howell play with Brad? I was under the impression he had left the band when Brad joined and that Malone, Hicks, Tucker and Patton are the bass players Brad worked with in DBT.

[Tequila Cowboy]

You missed Adam Howell in your bass player list.

But yeah, I agree with you that they were a different kind of band from BTCD through GGB. More country and more soul oriented at the same time. This version is about the Rock.

Did Adam Howell play with Brad? I was under the impression he had left the band when Brad joined and that Malone, Hicks, Tucker and Patton are the bass players Brad worked with in DBT.

Good point. Not 100% sure, he may have only played with Matt Lane.

[sactochris]

PD
ABAAC
SRO
DD
EO
BTCD
GGB
TBTD
GB
TDS