Jason Isbell poll, caveman style

[tinnitus photography]

since this board doesn't support posting polls, we'll do it the old fashion way.

Do you love Jason Isbell's post-DBT solo work? a simple yes or no answer will suffice, and i will tabulate the votes after a one week voting period.


i will vote no.

[Clams]

Do you love Jason Isbell's post-DBT solo work? a simple yes or no answer will suffice, and i will tabulate the votes after a one week voting period.


i will vote no.

Come on tinnitus--that's hardly a fair way to do it. Some of his stuff I love, some of it is just ok. Very hard to make blanket statements.

[tinnitus photography]

Do you love Jason Isbell's post-DBT solo work? a simple yes or no answer will suffice, and i will tabulate the votes after a one week voting period.


i will vote no.

Come on tinnitus--that's hardly a fair way to do it. Some of his stuff I love, some of it is just ok. Very hard to make blanket statements.

i agree. i was just going by the post in the Eye Candy thread.

[beantownbubba]

Come on tinnitus, this is 3dd nobody can post a one word answer. I think it's not allowed in the by-laws or something like that.

There's not a single Jason album that I love w/out reservation. There are songs on all of them (i think w/out looking to be sure) that I consider keepers and the best stuff is great. Is that a yes or a no?

[dime in the gutter]

no

[Sirk]

A resounding yes.

[heartbreaker1976]

Southeastern from start to finish. The rest is hit and miss.

[brstigerfan]

yes

[Iowan]

Yeah, I got all blanket-y back in the Eye Candy thread. If tinnitus will allow it, I will attempt to redefine.

Do you regularly intentionally listen to and legitimately enjoy Jason's solo output?

In my case the answer is "Yes".

Would also be interested in hearing why those who don't, don't. Is it stylistically driven, or based in some personal grudge?

[dime in the gutter]

yall are fucking up this thread.

fucking lawyers.

[Iowan]

yall are fucking up this thread.

fucking lawyers.

We can't help it.

[RevMatt]

Yes

Southeastern and Here We Rest especially.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Do you regularly intentionally listen to and legitimately enjoy Jason's solo output?

Not overall. I listened to Sirens of the Ditch quite a bit when it first came out, mainly because it was so long of a wait. The follow up is the least played. Even though I've always gone to see Jason live pretty regularly, it took Here We Rest to pique my interest in his solo work again. It sounded like he was finally coming into his own and becoming comfortable in his skin post-DBT's. Southeastern took that to the next level and it got many repeated spins when it came out earlier this year. I haven't really revisited it recently but I'm sure I will.

Would also be interested in hearing why those who don't, don't. Is it stylistically driven, or based in some personal grudge?

With an exception of a few songs on the first album, the majority of Here We Rest and Southeastern, I don't really find myself hankering to listen to Jason's records all that much. I'll just have to see how that changes for me in the wake of Southeastern (or if it changes at all). I understand Smitty's "NPR'ed" observation and how others feel that some of his work lacks an "edge" but to be honest, when I first saw Jason with the Truckers, some aspects of his sound stood out like a sore thumb (this is perhaps most evident on A Blessing And A Curse) so I had an inkling that his tenure with the band might not necessarily be a long one. Own his own, he gets to pursue the sound that seems to come natural to him, one which makes him more palatable to the masses. Some may accuse him of "selling out" but I think that part of his sound has been there all along. While I may prefer the grittier approach of the early Truckers records, I think he comes by his more polished sound honestly and I'm tickled to death to see him enjoying such an overwhelming level of success as of late. He deserves it and has worked his ass off for it. At least that's how it appears from my perspective.

[gepman]

yes

[docturk]

or based in some personal grudge?

Do people really do this? Serious question.

[The Avon Lady]

Do you love Jason Isbell's post-DBT solo work?

YES, Yes I do!

[Tequila Cowboy]

Not even a question. Yes.

[Smitty]

Some of it. I admit that hearing the Southeastern songs live endeared them to me moreso than the initial listenings to the record. He's hit or miss with me; honestly it's hard for me to name a songwriter in his generation that's better than he is, but he can also come off extremely vanilla. His albums are 25% great, 50% good and 25% forgettable.
I still got high hopes for him - no doubt he's got the songwriting and guitar chops - but I'm not going to go into a repeat of what I've said before.

[Iowan]

or based in some personal grudge?

Do people really do this? Serious question.

The accusation was made in the Shonna thread that people didn't like A Tell All because they had issues with how Shonna left the band, and I responded that while Jason left on bad terms, most folks (I believe I used the term "vast majority") here dig his solo stuff, to show that the panning of A Tell All was motivated by musical preferences and not spite.

[dfw2010]

Yes. Absolutely.

[cortez the killer]

No

[Cubfan06]

I absolutely like/love his solo stuff. I didn't care for self-titled, with the exception of Sunstroke and last year's re-emergence of The Blue in his sets endeared me to that song much more because it had become so much tighter.
I feel that Sirens of the Ditch is an uneven album, but has so many great moments. Here We Rest was a very good album in my eyes. And although differing and polarizing opinions here, I think that Southeastern is great.

[Clams]

Yes

[Clams]

No

[Iowan]

Is any really surprised as to who the first official fuck-up of the thread belongs to?

[RevMatt]

When he was in DBT Jason Isbell's role was lead guitarist/third songwriter. His contribution was between two and four songs on a record. With that as his role the fans were only exposed to the best three or four songs he'd written over a fifteen month period. It is a whole lot different when you are the only songwriter and must come up with twelve songs for a record. The self-titled album has about three or four songs I like. "Cigarettes and Wine" is the best off that album. I like "Seven Mile Island" and "Sunstroke" because of the strangeness of those songs. "The Blue" is a good song. Overall, it is his weakest record.

HWR and SE are pretty amazing albums. The best songs on those records are some of the best songs released in the past five years, IMO. "Alabama Pines" won song of the year at the Americana music awards. I expect that Southeastern will dominate next year's Americana awards and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets a Grammy nomination, though I don't expect Isbell to win a Grammy. The metacritic score for SE is one of the two or three highest of 2013 and if it wasn't for the 3.5 star review in Rolling Stone (which translates to a score of 75 in metacritic) the record would have scored in the 90's.

As far as his solo career goes, Sirens of The Ditch was recorded when he was still a member of DBT and members of DBT backed him on it. He faltered a little bit out of the gate with the self-titled record and "Cigarettes and Wine" is the only song from that record that has stayed in his live set continuously. But the next two albums widened his audience beyond Truckers fans. From all of the interviews I've read he says the songs are still coming quickly and now that he is sober he is able to put more hours each day into his craft. The 400 Unit seems to be playing better than ever. Sadler Vaden has been a great addition to that band and Derry DeBorja is a sneaky good keyboardist, coming up with subtle but inventive parts. On the nights when Amanda Shires joins in that band really cooks. I am very interested in seeing what he does with his next record.

[beantownbubba]

Is any really surprised as to who the first official fuck-up of the thread belongs to?

I don't think it was a fuck-up. I think it was intended to be telling, biting, incisive sociomusical commentary. Was it successful? Maybe we should have a poll.

[Iowan]

Is any really surprised as to who the first official fuck-up of the thread belongs to?

I don't think it was a fuck-up. I think it was intended to be telling, biting, incisive sociomusical commentary. Was it successful? Maybe we should have a poll.

Fuck up.

When in doubt, BC.

[LBRod]

Oh yes.

[Zip City]

Yes.

Not sure what those voting "no" are/were hoping for from him