But it’s true that when DBT wraps its songs around a familiar Southern theme, its work jumps from being good, solid rock ’n’ roll to being great American music as deep as a country well and ancient as an old-time Appalachian love song or murder ballad. Blessing is merely good, solid rock.
Basically putting DBT in a no-win position-if they write about the south they get pigeon-holed as a regional band, but if they try to break out of that ghetto, they get criticized for straying from what makes them special-or at least easily categorizable to a music critic.
-
A Blessing And A Curse- I've been listening to A Blessing and a Curse a lot (because I pre-ordered from Amazon I got to listen to a preview stream of the album which I then ripped using Audio HIjack) and enjoying it more and more. It is very different-my half-brother, possibly an even bigger DBT fan than I am, doesn't like it at all. It seems like an album more about small statements then one big one, and about consolidating artistic advances rather than making new ones. After three big concept albums in a row (Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day and The Dirty South) that seems like a good call. Musically, after the arena rock theatrics of the southern trilogy, ABAAC seems to harken back to DBT's punk rock roots, especially early Replacements. The stuff Patterson Hood was listening to when it his classmates were cranking Skynrd in the parking lot.
If you want to hear A Blessing and a Curse now, a
cool QuickTime app
is available that streams the entire album, along with artwork and verbiage for each song.
Recent Comments