Re: **Official Drive-By Truckers Thread**
After a few weeks to let the Unraveling sink in, I'm really enjoying it. I do wish there was more Cooley material, but I don't think it's a function of stifling him, I think he just goes through periods where he doesn't write as much, whereas Patterson is a guy who is writing pretty much constantly. The albums are usually weighted a bit more towards his stuff (English Oceans is the only one I can think of off the top of my head that's truly a 50/50 split) but this one obviously is really light on Cooley with just the 2 songs.
I do agree with Justin that some of the lyrics are a bit more on the nose this time around, even compared to American Band, but I think that's what they were going for. Patterson has said they meant this one to be "personal," whereas with AB while it was still political, much of it was still done in a storytelling manner (i.e. Ramon Casiano.) Lyrical content aside, I think AB was absolutely a much stronger record from a songwriting *and* production standpoint. I rank AB probably in the top 1/3rd of their catalog and as of now, I'd put Unraveling closer towards the bottom. I still enjoy it greatly, and I think it speaks to the strength of their catalog that their worst albums are still, IMO, B/B+ material.
I *do* understand where the people are coming from who are shouting for them to get off the political angle. Without wanting to get into a political debate here, my beliefs generally align with theirs and as such, it makes it easier to get into the material. Whereas someone who doesn't agree with their viewpoints obviously is going to be turned off by the lyrical content straight away regardless of how good a given song or album might be, and that's understandable. But at the same time, their willingness to say what they believe in and not give a shit who it offends, pisses off, or alienates is a big part of the reason why I love this band.
It's been WAY too long since my last Rock Show and really pumped for Chicago in a couple of weeks.
My updated rankings after a few weeks of letting The Unraveling sink in:
1. SRO
1a. DD
1b. Dirty South
4. Brighter Than Creation's Dark
5. American Band
6. Big To-Do
7. Pizza Deliverance
8. Go-Go Boots
9. Blessing and a Curse
10. The Unraveling
11. Gangstabilly
12. English Oceans
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