Day 0932 - Southern Rock Opera

Drive-By Truckers "Southern Rock Opera"

Pretty much what it says on the tin.   A rock opera utilising and talking about Southern Rock, with special focus given to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young, and very much (musically) in their style.

From what I've read, the story is supposed to chart the progress of a group of youngsters from their Southern upbringing longing after fame and fortune, to finally getting what they want but with all the eventual pitfalls of fame.

I would say that I enjoyed one or two of the sounds on here, particularly on the second disc which has lots of nice guitar harmony bits going on and there is solid riffage throughout. "Angels and Fuselage" is a yearning epic rock ballad in the vein of Skynyrd's best.

The problem then is the 90-minute runtime.   I didn't really pay much attention to the 'narrative' and there's not enough variety to maintain interest across that duration of music (for my tastes anyway).   As is the case with many double albums, I feel that this could have been shorn down to an arresting single album.   

Day 0823 - Come Find Yourself

Fun Loving Criminals "Come Find Yourself" (1996)

The band had formed in 1993.  They were working at a club and when the scheduled act failed to show they would step in and play the gig.  During one of these shows they caught the notice of the right people and got signed.

Their album "Come Find Yourself" has a bit of a club vibe in it, but in the main it feels to me like someone cruising around the city (presumably the FLC's hometown of New York).   Opening track "Fun Loving Criminal" feels like a daytime cruise about.   The next track "Passive Aggressive" has an evening, loungey vibe with some laidback raps which suddenly erupts into horn-backed heavy rock riffs with a yell-along chorus.   The album settles back into its silky groove for the next couple of tracks, singles "the Grave and the Constant" and "Scooby Snacks" before busting out the rock again for "Bombin' the L".

The cover of Louis Armstrong track "We have all the time in the world" is a nice touch, but not a scratch on the original.   Love the almost Cream-esque vibe of the riff from "Crime and Punishment"

The album mixes rap, rock, soul, and loungey vibes in a way that works more often than it doesn't.