Favorite Songs Ever: Drive-by Truckers - Never Gonna Change

Most Disappointing Albums of 2011

I've gotten to the point in my life that I just don't listen to bad albums. That's why you probably won't get a "Worst Albums of (whatever year)" list from me anytime soon. If I listen to a few songs and I hate them, I'm not going to waste my time hoping those were anomalies. These are 2011 releases that I had high hopes for but was let down.

Yelawolf - Radioactive

My initial semi-praise of this album seems overstated now. I've hardly played the album since the week after its release. It's not so much Yelawolf that's the problem here… it's the fact that there's so little recognizable as the Yelawolf I'd come to know and enjoy on his previous releases and mixtapes. I wanted southern culture on the skids (not the band, the thematic element). I wanted hard edges; damn the mainstream, make the mainstream come to you. Instead I got an inconsistent mishmash of sappy crossover hooks and "hard" love songs with a couple of nods to the past mixed in. Can an artist sell out on their first real album?

Reckless Kelly - Good Luck and True Love

Dumb lyrics sink this ship, period. Sure, these guys have never been Townes Van Zandt with electric guitars, but still. At least work on the words long enough that they aren't noticeable. I'm trying to come up with a comparison to an NBA ref… you don't even notice the good ones…. but that's not quite right; lyrics are important and most times I believe they should stand on their own… strip the music away and they're still enthralling. If you can't do that, at least run them by a Nashville song committee and let them blandify the lyrics so they fade into the background. These guys sound tired, and this was the year little brother (Micky and the Motorcars) finally beat up big brother.

Drive-by Truckers - Go-Go Boots

This album isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things, I'm just sick of the sad old man music. I'm sick of being lulled to sleep by one of the most badass rock bands in America. You've got those guitars in your hands and that whiskey in your glasses… put 'em to better use! Don't get me wrong, there are some great tunes on here (Used to Be a Cop, Mercy Buckets), but if I want almost entirely slow, depressing story-songs, I'll listen to Gordon Lightfoot. Pick up the pace!

Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers - Unida Cantina

They phoned this one in. Yawner of the first degree. RCPM is one of my go-to bands for comfortable heartland by way of the southwest rock music. Comfort is good, drudgery is not. I'm not sure what they were shooting for with the dopey album-opener "All Over the Radio." It sounds like they were going for a pop radio crossover when there's no bridge available for bands of this ilk to even cross. The lyrics aren't up to the standards set by previous releases (pre-No More Beautiful World) and most of the album sounds uninspired. "Empty Highway" is the only song that stuck with me.

The Jayhawks - Mockingbird Time

Again, not actually bad… but with the reunion of the original vocalists, I was expecting a homerun. The swelling melodies I'd hoped for are restrained. The big hooks I love are nowhere to be heard. Can they not hit the high notes anymore? I doubt it, and when you've got long range assault rifles in the arsenal, why just fire the pellet guns?

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter IV

Wayne still has a way with the one-liner, but this album just feels like a long string of puns. The beats are boring and the songs just don't hold together. A couple of old-school feeling tracks were winners (Blunt Blowin', 6 Foot 7 Foot) but the rest was difficult to listen to more than a couple times. For as much hype as this album had coming in, it has to be considered the biggest failure of the year.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You

RHCP has enough cred in the bank that I'm going to check out anything they release, despite recent sparse and dull output. So, how was this one? Sparse and dull. You've got two of the most exciting artists of the past few decades (Flea and Anthony Kiedis) still in the fold and this is the result? As Andrew from rabbitsblack.com put it: "Five years of waiting, and they release an album that sounds like the B-sides of Stadium Arcadium (which was also disappointing)." Amen.

Note - The only truly awful album I listened to from start to finish this year was Justin Moore's Outlaws Like Me, which (as I said yesterday) is basically just a long string of "how damn country I am" tunes with lyrics a teenager could slap together.

FTM 101 Best of 2011: 51-75

51. Ha Ha Tonka - Death of a Decade
52. Micky and the Motorcars - Raise My Glass
53. Glen Campbell - Ghost on the Canvas
54. Sam Sliva and the Good - And the People Say
55. 13ghosts - Liar's Melody
56. The Redlands Palomino Company - Don't Fade
57. The Horrible Crowes - Elsie
58. Social Distortion - Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes
59. Jay Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne
60. Steve Earle - I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive


61. Have Gun Will Travel - Mergers & Acquisitions
62. Eric Church - Chief
63. Drive-by Truckers - Go-Go Boots
64. Robert Earl Reed - Carlene
65. Johnny Corndawg - Down on the Bikini Line
66. Amos Lee - Mission Bell
67. Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
68. Jeremy Steding - I Keep on Livin', But I Don't Learn
69. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo


70. The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
71. Jason Fratesi and the Dirt Road Jam Band - Cryin' Out Loud
72. Thieving Birds - S/T
73. Brad Paisley - This is Country Music
74. Nick 13 - S/T
75. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Best Songs of 2011: 1st Quarter Report

Click the song titles to listen.

1. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Exit Ghost

(tie) Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Codeine (free & legal mp3 download of this song at the link)

3. Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears - She's So Scandalous

4. Hayes Carll - Bottle in My Hand

5. Left Lane Cruiser - Pig Farm

6. Chris Young - Tomorrow

7. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'

8. Alison Krauss & Union Station - My Love Follows You Where You Go

9. Austin Lucas- Thunder Rail

10. Ponderosa - Devil on My Shoulder

11. Sunny Sweeney - Staying's Worse Than Leaving

12. Amos Lee - Flower

13. Drive-by Truckers - Mercy Buckets

14. John Popper & the Duskray Troubadors - Champipple

15. The Decemberists - Don't Carry It All

YouTube Gems: Drive-By Truckers

Happy Birthday Johnny Cash! (not that this song has anything to do with him)

(It's my birthday too, but JC's is more important :))

Concert Review: Drive-By Truckers

Bear with me; I've never done a concert review before. As with my album reviews, this'll just be what a regular guy saw and heard...

Concert Review:

Drive-By Truckers

Memphis in May, May 1

If you're like me, you've got a list of bands and artists you have to see before they break up, die or you do. Drive-by Truckers was near the top of that list for me. Willie, Merle and AC/DC are also on that list for me, but happily, DBT is now marked off. Tom Lee Park, just off Beale Street and just up the bluff from the muddy Mississippi was the setting for the show.

2 days of sheeting rain had left the grounds an utter mess, pools of brown water, footprint pocked mud fields and brown sidewalks, but we had to see 'em regardless. It's possible even the Lord wanted to see the DBTs, because the rain stopped shortly before their set, a nice breeze cooled us down and the sun peeked through a few times. As that breeze rode in and just after catching the Burnside Brothers blues band and half a set from the North Mississippi Allstars, we found our spots on the slippery metal pavers in front of the stage and got ready for some [rock cliché]face melting[/rock cliché] southern rock. The band delivered.

Patterson Hood stepped to the mike in all his ragged rock star glory and ripped into the slow burning "After the Scene Dies" (from their new album The Big To-Do) with his shredded southeastern twang and it was on. The subject matter of music scenes gone by stretched into the next offering, "Self Destructive Zones" with Mike Cooley jabbing hair metal, grunge and American Idol in one fell swoop.

Speaking of music scenes gone by, all in attendance at this particular stage were skipping out on a bonafied rock n' roll legend to see DBT and Patterson made sure to chide us for it. "Jerry Lee (Lewis) is playing behind us...why are you here?" he questioned. He said his wife had called earlier and said she might come to the festival that day, but if she did, it would be to see the Killer, not them. The crowd ate it up.

All the while we sipped our $4 tall boys of watery beer (well, those of us who weren't partaking of the green leaf), the band members shared in a bottle or two of Kentucky's finest, and they weren't sipping. Shonna drank it like water, matter of fact.

For the most part, the songs played true to their studio recorded counterparts (of course, much more organic and inflamed in person), but on "72 (This Highway's Mean)" the band came across as a stone country act with John Neff's fine steel guitar work. It was an outstanding departure.

The climax of the night was, without a doubt, an epic take on Southern Rock Opera's "Let There Be Rock." Hood ripped the microphone from its stand for the first time, letting his guitar hang at his side and delivered a veritable sermon on the life-saving capabilities of rock n' roll. It was one of those performances that leave you feeling numb, not quite sure what you just saw and heard. Spectacular and moving, even to those unlucky souls who were unfamiliar with the band.

The band finished their set with the rollicking and [rock cliché]Stonesy[/rock cliché] "Shut Up and Get on the Plane" before bidding us adieu to go listen to our douche-rock that surely couldn't live up to the awesome sight we'd just witnessed (which it didn't - though I did enjoy Seether a little more than I should admit).

Mud, doped up North Mississippi Allstars fans and cheap beer be damned, Drive-by Truckers cemented their spot as my favorite band Saturday afternoon.

Setlist:

After the Scene Dies

Self-Destructive Zones

The Fourth Night of My Drinkin'

Birthday Boy

Girls Who Smoke

3 Dimes Down

Sink Hole

(It's Gonna Be) I Told You So

Get Downtown

This F*cking Job

72 (This Highway's Mean)

Sante Fe

Hell No I Ain't Happy

Marry Me

Let There Be Rock

Shut Up and Get on the Plane

Based on what you've seen here, you probably think I hate all music, but that's not true. I live, breathe and love music. I even dig many of the artists I make fun of (not you, R Kelly). Anyway, as another non-humor aside, here are my top 30 albums of '08 to this point. Feel free to chime in with your faves.

1. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
2. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
3. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
4. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
5. Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song
6. Sun Kil Moon - April
7. Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof
8. Fleet Foxes
9. Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
10. The SteelDrivers
11. Mudcrutch
12. Drag The River - You Can't Live This Way
13. Vampire Weekend
14. Aaron Watson - Angels and Outlaws
15. Damien Jurado - Caught In The Trees
16. The Black Crowes - Warpaint
17. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
18. Paul Thorn - A Long Way From Tupelo
19. Candlebox - Into the Sun
20. Old 97s - Blame It On Gravity
21. Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Turbo Ocho
22. Langhorne Slim - s/t
23. The Black Keys - Attack and Release
24. Nada Surf - Lucky
25. Snoop Dogg - Ego Trippin'
26. Chris Mills - Living In The Aftermath
27. Trent Willmon - Broken In
28. R.E.M. - Accelerate
29. George Strait - Troubadour
30. Alan Jackson - Good Time

And I just got Chris Knight's "Heart of Stone" in the mail so it'll certainly be on this list soon.