The official new album thread (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

[Zip City]

Tour of Duty is the only track I can't really get into. The rest of the record is great. Why oh why was the s/t so mediocre?

Production was a big part of the problem for me.

also, songwriting

[Iowan]

Tour of Duty is the only track I can't really get into. The rest of the record is great. Why oh why was the s/t so mediocre?

Production was a big part of the problem for me.

also, songwriting

Yeah... The song writing wasn't great, but I'd put it ahead of mediocre. Without such brittle, generic production, it could have been a better album.

Production is easier to fix than songwriting, so I chose to focus on that.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Funny, I thought the s/t album was well produced, sounded great but lacked solid songs (with the exception of Sunstroke and maybe Soldiers Get Strange). Sirens of the ditch was just the opposite. it felt like an album of spare parts and lacked a consistent vision, but the songs were some of his best. Here We Rest, IMHO, puts it all together.

[Iowan]

Funny, I thought the s/t album was well produced, sounded great but lacked solid songs (with the exception of Sunstroke and maybe Soldiers Get Strange). Sirens of the ditch was just the opposite. it felt like an album of spare parts and lacked a consistent vision, but the songs were some of his best. Here We Rest, IMHO, puts it all together.

I agree on everything but s/t. I think the songs are his weakest, but No Choice in the Matter, However Long, The Blue, The Last Song I Will Write were damn good songs. They all sound too slick. If David Barbe had produced Good, I think people here would have raved about it.

SOTD was a great collection of severely uncohesive songs. Here We Rest is definitely his best album.

[Smitty]

Funny, I thought the s/t album was well produced, sounded great but lacked solid songs (with the exception of Sunstroke and maybe Soldiers Get Strange). Sirens of the ditch was just the opposite. it felt like an album of spare parts and lacked a consistent vision, but the songs were some of his best. Here We Rest, IMHO, puts it all together.

I too think the s/t was well produced - kinda slick, but it flows well. May be the best part about the album.

[shuffle]

for those of you who haven't given in and downloaded the album already: you can now download the track "codeine" legally (and for free): http://birdsneedfeet.blogspot.com/2011/03/mp3-jason-isbell-400-unit-codeine.html

[pallister]

for those of you who haven't given in and downloaded the album already: you can now download the track "codeine" legally (and for free): http://birdsneedfeet.blogspot.com/2011/03/mp3-jason-isbell-400-unit-codeine.html

Good song. You can never go wrong with some fiddle.

I really like the songs I've heard so far: Codeine, Stopping By, Go It Alone (I like the acoustic version better). I had heard Alabama Pines a while back. It's my least favorite.

[Gator McKlusky]

I am digging this record a lot. Pleasantly surprised as I had pretty much given up on Jason after the self titled album which does nothing for me--except for a couple of songs.

[WoodDuck]

If David Barbe had produced Good, I think people here would have raved about it.

Thanks shuffle!

[mktimber]

I could have been more clear -- from my point of view, the Zip City, Buford Stick, SRO crowd is not likely to warm up to Stopping By or We've met.

Right, or parts of GGB, TBTD or BTCD either for that matter. It's the challenge of any band/act to grow the audience without losing more than you gain, but some people just stop by the party for a while then move on, and I'm glad both DBT and JI seem more interested in writing songs in styles that are where they're at now than trying to repeat past glories. My wish for Jason is that he'd dip a little deeper into his catalogue live with the 400 Unit. He seems to rely on a pretty steady subset of songs the times I've seen him.

I would like to see him dig deeper as well. Some of his better songs just do not seem to get played live.
Its going to be interesting to see how he mixes this new material in. I suspect that the venues have a lot to do with song selection, as acoustic songs tend to kill a bar crowds interest. I am excited about the Shoals Theater show as I think we will get fiddle and maybe some horns to showcase the new stuff and its a good venue.

[pallister]

I haven't seen Jason in a while, but the last couple times I was bummed they couldn't play a song like No Choice in the Matter, which I think is far and away the best track on the previous album.

[lotusamerica]

delete

[lotusamerica]

Funny, I thought the s/t album was well produced, sounded great but lacked solid songs (with the exception of Sunstroke and maybe Soldiers Get Strange). Sirens of the ditch was just the opposite. it felt like an album of spare parts and lacked a consistent vision, but the songs were some of his best. Here We Rest, IMHO, puts it all together.

I agree on everything but s/t. I think the songs are his weakest, but No Choice in the Matter, However Long, The Blue, The Last Song I Will Write were damn good songs. They all sound too slick. If David Barbe had produced Good, I think people here would have raved about it.

SOTD was a great collection of severely uncohesive songs. Here We Rest is definitely his best album.

As much as I think Barbe's great with the live in the studio sound, the production of 400 Unit rocked. If you don't like albums being produced, then I can see why you wouldn't like it, but it's not exactly slick, just produced.

Songs...okay between the two of you, you have Sunstroke, Soldiers, No Choice, However Long, Blue, Last Song. Add Streetlights (great), Seven Mile Island, Good, and Cigarettes and Wine and that's the whole album. Would like to know which of those songs you consider weak. Maybe I'll give you Good, but then again, I know people who that's their favorite song, so to each his own.

[Iowan]

Funny, I thought the s/t album was well produced, sounded great but lacked solid songs (with the exception of Sunstroke and maybe Soldiers Get Strange). Sirens of the ditch was just the opposite. it felt like an album of spare parts and lacked a consistent vision, but the songs were some of his best. Here We Rest, IMHO, puts it all together.

I agree on everything but s/t. I think the songs are his weakest, but No Choice in the Matter, However Long, The Blue, The Last Song I Will Write were damn good songs. They all sound too slick. If David Barbe had produced Good, I think people here would have raved about it.

SOTD was a great collection of severely uncohesive songs. Here We Rest is definitely his best album.

As much as I think Barbe's great with the live in the studio sound, the production of 400 Unit rocked. If you don't like albums being produced, then I can see why you wouldn't like it, but it's not exactly slick, just produced.

Songs...okay between the two of you, you have Sunstroke, Soldiers, No Choice, However Long, Blue, Last Song. Add Streetlights (great), Seven Mile Island, Good, and Cigarettes and Wine and that's the whole album. Would like to know which of those songs you consider weak. Maybe I'll give you Good, but then again, I know people who that's their favorite song, so to each his own.

I'm not "anti production" in general. I REALLY like Lucero's 1372 Overton Park, and it's heavily produced. However, with the fat layers of horns, it needed it. I think the songs on S/T would have benefited from them easing off just a little. It comes off brittle to me where both SOTD and HWR come off organic.

It might be blasphemy on this board, but I find Sunstroke and Streetlights to be relatively boring by JI standards. Solid tunes, but not great.

[Smitty]

It might be blasphemy on this board, but I find Sunstroke and Streetlights to be relatively boring by JI standards. Solid tunes, but not great.

I agree about "Sunstroke" - the "sleep while the soldier's get sunstroke; make little fools of ourselves" line in particular just seems out-of-place. I dig the story in Streetlights - and the last 1/4 of the song is great.

[Sirk]

I agree about "Sunstroke" - the "sleep while the soldier's get sunstroke; make little fools of ourselves" line in particular just seems out-of-place.

Really? That's pretty much the key bit to the song. Soldiers are on the opposite side of the world fighting in a desert, and yet we focus on our own foolish little squabbles. I've always seen that song in the general vein of the famous "It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world" line from Casablanca.

Sunstroke is the highlight of that album for me. It's beautiful.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Sunstroke is the highlight of that album for me. It's beautiful.

yeah, I'm with you. I rank it right up with Dress Blues and Danko/Manuel as his among his very best songs. Alabama Pines is slowly creeping up that list too...

[Jed]

courtesy of A Truer Sound...

Crazy how much better that version of the song is. After a month of listening, I've decided I HATE the production on this new album. Alabama Pines, Codiene, and We've Met are honestly the only songs I enjoy listening to. Ah well. Can't wait to see him in Louisville next month.

[adavici]

I'd put SOTD above S/T, but HWR tops `em both. Before HWR, Streetlights was my fav post-DBT song of his. Just loved the melody, straight-forward lyrics and guitar part. Really love the KEXP studio solo/acoustic version. Funny how one guy's trash is another guy's treasure.

[pallister]

SOTD might not be a cohesive collection of songs, but it's a damn good collection of songs. IMHO, there's nothing on s/t or the few tracks from HWR I've heard that compare to "Try," "Chicago Promenade," "Dress Blues" or "In a Razor Town."

[Sub]

Here We Rest get's the Sub stamp of approval.

Only have listened to it a couple times but I got no complaints seems like Isbell is pretty comfortable with what he's putting out. I think some songs could have been a bit more stripped down and would have held up well but it still is a good album and I doubt anyone will be disappointed if they like his other stuff.

[Van]

Looks like the vinyl LP is coming with a bonus 7" with 2 unreleased track.

Anyone know what they are going to be?

[Hood4Pres]

Looks like the vinyl LP is coming with a bonus 7" with 2 unreleased track.

Anyone know what they are going to be?

Superman and Crystal Clear would me amazing

[jimmyjack]

had to cancel my amazon pre-order and buy the pre-order lp version from lightning rod! can't turn down a bonus single, plus autographed sleeve. cool

[shuffle]

Looks like the vinyl LP is coming with a bonus 7" with 2 unreleased track.

Anyone know what they are going to be?

Brand New Stone and Everywhere With Helicopter (Guided By Voices cover)

[Duke Silver]

Looks like the vinyl LP is coming with a bonus 7" with 2 unreleased track.

Anyone know what they are going to be?

Brand New Stone and Everywhere With Helicopter (Guided By Voices cover)

Does Jason sing on the GBV cover? I can't hear that, for some reason. Pollard sounds so nasal and biting on that song. Should be cool, though.

Kinda bummed that Superman isn't one of them, not that I was really expecting it...someday, hopefully.

[olwiggum]

Jason and Browan sing on the GBV track. It's much different than the original version. Very cool stuff.

[Jack Flash]

I'd LOVE to hear the GBV track. I hope somebody rips it once it gets in people's hands!

[olwiggum]

It will also be on a GBV tribute album that's being released on Record Store Day.

[cortez the killer]

Now that Jason has covered GBV, you gotta believe indie rock won't ignore him like it has DBT.