The place for all things HeAthens
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http://www.threedimesdown.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7856
I was gonna wait a full 6 months from release before posting an updated reaction, but as you point out, many of us have been listening to the album that long anyway. I, too, am still loving American Band and think it is holding up very, very well. I enjoy listening to it regularly. I'm not ready to rank it other than to say "highly." As is often the case w/ DBT songs/albums, the evolving nature of the live versions keeps the songs fresh and adds to the pleasure of listening to the original versions, which doesn't make much logical sense but that's how it works for me.brett27295 wrote:I am still loving this album. I liked it from my first listen when it leaked during the summer. But over the months it has firmly established itself in the #3 spot right behind Decoration Day/Dirty South. I'm sure in the coming years it may slide around a bit but I'm still convinced American Band is their strongest album since Dirty South.
I guess I've pretty much gotten out of the ranking game on DBT records because it fluctuates so much and the quality level is so consistently high. As much as a landmark achievement SRO was I don't listen to it that much because I listen to a lot of live shows with those songs in the setlists. Then there's an album like GGB that I really love as a whole, and listen to maybe more than any other record, but is sort of a "which of these is not like the others" thing as that is it kind off sits outside the canon for me. To me EO ushered in this new era of the band from a recording standpoint and American Band really improved on that excellent record. I do listen to it often and still marvel at how much they hit their mark in terms of idea to execution. So, yeah, it ranks very highly for me in terms of what I want to hear and how successful a record it is on so many levels but in terms of making a 1,2,3,4, etc. list of albums anymore I will leave that to y'all because I'm out.beantownbubba wrote:I was gonna wait a full 6 months from release before posting an updated reaction, but as you point out, many of us have been listening to the album that long anyway. I, too, am still loving American Band and think it is holding up very, very well. I enjoy listening to it regularly. I'm not ready to rank it other than to say "highly." As is often the case w/ DBT songs/albums, the evolving nature of the live versions keeps the songs fresh and adds to the pleasure of listening to the original versions, which doesn't make much logical sense but that's how it works for me.brett27295 wrote:I am still loving this album. I liked it from my first listen when it leaked during the summer. But over the months it has firmly established itself in the #3 spot right behind Decoration Day/Dirty South. I'm sure in the coming years it may slide around a bit but I'm still convinced American Band is their strongest album since Dirty South.
That is an incredibly apt description of how I feel about it, too.Tequila Cowboy wrote:Then there's an album like GGB that I really love as a whole, and listen to maybe more than any other record, but is sort of a "which of these is not like the others" thing as that is it kind off sits outside the canon for me.
There were the early years: GB, PD, SRO (I still say it's all downhill from that one. It's not true, but I still say it)Tequila Cowboy wrote:To me EO ushered in this new era of the band from a recording standpoint and American Band really improved on that excellent record. I do listen to it often and still marvel at how much they hit their mark in terms of idea to execution. So, yeah, it ranks very highly for me in terms of what I want to hear and how successful a record it is on so many levels but in terms of making a 1,2,3,4, etc. list of albums anymore I will leave that to y'all because I'm out.
Ehh.Zip City wrote:I think the eras are too different to make any kind of apples to apples rankings anymore.
I'm not sure that I've thought of it that way but agreed. I'm also thankful to have it so nicely documented on It's Great To Be Alive. I love breaking out Alabama Ass Whuppin' every so often to get some idea of just how much the Truckers' sound has evolved over the years. My last show was at Cat's Cradle almost a year ago. The last few times I have seen them in general, I would put on a par with my favorite shows I saw in the early to mid-00's. The shows back then were raw and rambunctious but the ones they put on now are no less visceral, even if they are a bit more refined. This long into most bands careers, the cracks start to show. Not so with the Truckers, they continue to get better. That's a pretty fucking rare feat in rock n' roll. I'm eternally grateful to have been along for a fairly sizable chunk of the ride.Tequila Cowboy wrote:To me EO ushered in this new era of the band from a recording standpoint and American Band really improved on that excellent record.
Interesting. So GGB is your least enjoyable? Personal tastes are just that but I never fail to wildly enjoy that record anytime I play it.Iowan wrote:Ehh.Zip City wrote:I think the eras are too different to make any kind of apples to apples rankings anymore.
I just went by which I like the most. I'm not trying to take anything other than my own personal enjoyment level into account.
Yup. I go for it less than any other DBT record.Tequila Cowboy wrote:Interesting. So GGB is your least enjoyable? Personal tastes are just that but I never fail to wildly enjoy that record anytime I play it.Iowan wrote:Ehh.Zip City wrote:I think the eras are too different to make any kind of apples to apples rankings anymore.
I just went by which I like the most. I'm not trying to take anything other than my own personal enjoyment level into account.
I'll drink to that.Kudzu Guillotine wrote:I'm not sure that I've thought of it that way but agreed. I'm also thankful to have it so nicely documented on It's Great To Be Alive. I love breaking out Alabama Ass Whuppin' every so often to get some idea of just how much the Truckers' sound has evolved over the years. My last show was at Cat's Cradle almost a year ago. The last few times I have seen them in general, I would put on a par with my favorite shows I saw in the early to mid-00's. The shows back then were raw and rambunctious but the ones they put on now are no less visceral, even if they are a bit more refined. This long into most bands careers, the cracks start to show. Not so with the Truckers, they continue to get better. That's a pretty fucking rare feat in rock n' roll. I'm eternally grateful to have been along for a fairly sizable chunk of the ride.Tequila Cowboy wrote:To me EO ushered in this new era of the band from a recording standpoint and American Band really improved on that excellent record.
Very strange...............Zip City wrote:American Band will have a hard time ever cracking top 3 territory for me simply because I don't enjoy the current lineup's "sound" as much as do past iterations. I prefer the 3 guitar sound and the pedal steel sound over today's sound, which has too much piano for my liking. Heat Lightning marked a change in Patterson's way of arranging songs (IMO) that doesn't push my buttons like older albums do.
AAW is my favourite released version of that.Some of the reasoning is that the first 2 albums don't have enough Cooley and Patterson's singing wasn't what it became. An example is The Living Bubba, which may be my favorite DBT song. I'd listen to the recent live album version everyday over the studio album.
While I enjoy the first 2 albums the AAW versions are so much better.(and I don't miss the pedal on that album) The same with SRO, live versions of those songs are so much better.disgruntledgoat wrote:AAW is my favourite released version of that.Some of the reasoning is that the first 2 albums don't have enough Cooley and Patterson's singing wasn't what it became. An example is The Living Bubba, which may be my favorite DBT song. I'd listen to the recent live album version everyday over the studio album.
Any examples? Granted, Spotify has been the most common way I've listened to this album since it's a bit more portable than vinyl, but nothing has changed to my ears. I'm 98% sure they're all studio versions (well, we know how "Filthy and Fried" was recorded, but album versions nonetheless).Bon Scott's AC/DC wrote:I listened to Spotify's version of American Band for the first time the other day. Some the album's 11 tracks on Spotify appear to be the live versions of the songs, whilst others are the studio versions of the songs. Anyone know why Spotify have the album tracks - some live, some studio - mixed like this?
For me, four songs are live versions, you can even hear the crowd in the background whooping. 1) Ramon Casiano, 2) Guns of Umpqa, 3) What It Means, 4) Baggage.Mundane Mayhem wrote:Any examples? Granted, Spotify has been the most common way I've listened to this album since it's a bit more portable than vinyl, but nothing has changed to my ears. I'm 98% sure they're all studio versions (well, we know how "Filthy and Fried" was recorded, but album versions nonetheless).Bon Scott's AC/DC wrote:I listened to Spotify's version of American Band for the first time the other day. Some the album's 11 tracks on Spotify appear to be the live versions of the songs, whilst others are the studio versions of the songs. Anyone know why Spotify have the album tracks - some live, some studio - mixed like this?
I have a paid subscription and just listened to see if I experienced the same thing and I did not. Not sure what the deal is.Bon Scott's AC/DC wrote:For me, four songs are live versions, you can even hear the crowd in the background whooping. 1) Ramon Casiano, 2) Guns of Umpqa, 3) What It Means, 4) Baggage.Mundane Mayhem wrote:Any examples? Granted, Spotify has been the most common way I've listened to this album since it's a bit more portable than vinyl, but nothing has changed to my ears. I'm 98% sure they're all studio versions (well, we know how "Filthy and Fried" was recorded, but album versions nonetheless).Bon Scott's AC/DC wrote:I listened to Spotify's version of American Band for the first time the other day. Some the album's 11 tracks on Spotify appear to be the live versions of the songs, whilst others are the studio versions of the songs. Anyone know why Spotify have the album tracks - some live, some studio - mixed like this?
I don't have a paid subscription to Spotify (I only listen to it occasionally), so I don't know if that's the reason four track of the album for me are live versions?
I'm paid, too, so maybe that's the distinction. One other idea: have you downloaded live mp3s/FLACs that are being pulled into your Spotify "library"? Maybe there's some commingling going on.Tequila Cowboy wrote:I have a paid subscription and just listened to see if I experienced the same thing and I did not. Not sure what the deal is.Bon Scott's AC/DC wrote:For me, four songs are live versions, you can even hear the crowd in the background whooping. 1) Ramon Casiano, 2) Guns of Umpqa, 3) What It Means, 4) Baggage.Mundane Mayhem wrote:
Any examples? Granted, Spotify has been the most common way I've listened to this album since it's a bit more portable than vinyl, but nothing has changed to my ears. I'm 98% sure they're all studio versions (well, we know how "Filthy and Fried" was recorded, but album versions nonetheless).
I don't have a paid subscription to Spotify (I only listen to it occasionally), so I don't know if that's the reason four track of the album for me are live versions?
I'm gonna agree with Gaetzi here.Gaetzi wrote:Pizza Deliverance is the quintessential DBT album, for my money.