Bulldozers and Dirt: The DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS Poll

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I suspect some voters think they've gotten worse after Decoration Day; but Brighter Than Creation's Dark holds up nicely, extreme length and all.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Decoration Day 12
Southern Rock Opera 10
Brighter Than Creation's Dark 5
The Dirty South 2
Pizza Deliverance 1
Alabama Ass Whuppin 1
Gangstabilly 0
A Blessing and a Curse 0


I'm crossing over into enterprise (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 00:45 (seventeen years ago)

don't know why i've never checked these guys out, i'd probably like them. those are some pretty good album titles.

I think no pants is sexy. (Matt P), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 00:49 (seventeen years ago)

Listening to all these wd be shorter than live show

Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 00:52 (seventeen years ago)

some voters think they've gotten worse after Decoration Day

That'd be me.

Voting Southern Rock Opera, no contest really. Though I was less bored by Brighter Than Creation's Dark than any of them albums since Decoration Day.

xhuxk, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 01:05 (seventeen years ago)

Decoration Day for me. Their collective peak as songwriters.

EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 01:14 (seventeen years ago)

i'm actually going for creation's dark, even though really i think their albums are all mixed bags. but i always thought southern rock opera got credit for what it tried to do more than what it actually achieved -- some good songs, but they're not all good by any means -- and since i'm a particular fan of mike cooley, i like his prominence on the latest record. overall i like the dbts without loving them. and i still think they're more the replacements than they are lynyrd skynyrd.

would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 01:18 (seventeen years ago)

Yeah, Mike Cooley saves BTCD; he pushes Hood to write sharper, shorter songs than is his wont.

I'm crossing over into enterprise (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 01:21 (seventeen years ago)

I think I listen to Alabama Ass Whuppin the most

iatee, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 01:22 (seventeen years ago)

i actually love the new stuff, although i miss Isbell's input. tough call for me, but i went with Decoration Day because the title track pushes it over the edge.

myndbloom, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 01:46 (seventeen years ago)

decoration day, mostly for Outfit

Nasty British and Short (hmmmm), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 02:46 (seventeen years ago)

I'm going with Brighter, which still nags me to pull it off the shelf and give it a hard, dedicated listen even after a year later. The others all do that to some extent (except Blessing and a Curse, which is mostly the latter), but none has as strong a command over me as that one.

deusner, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 03:08 (seventeen years ago)

Pizza Deliverance. I really should hear Gangstabilly, cuz right now I'm feeling like each album was worse than the one before it, though I have yet to hear BTCD. Ironically, I do think Isbell is better than that 3rd wheel groaner they had beforehand.

da croupier, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 04:03 (seventeen years ago)

ugh. Decoration Day is probably the strongest top-to-bottom.

But in addition to the ambition and vision and southern thing and whatnot Southern Rock Opera has "Zip City"

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 04:20 (seventeen years ago)

Zip City. That is one hell of a song. Pizza Deliverance has Uncle Frank, another doozy. But still, it's gotta be Decoration Day.

kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 05:02 (seventeen years ago)

Not usually one for the words, but the storytelling really hits on Dirty South

dan., Tuesday, 14 April 2009 06:24 (seventeen years ago)

Dirty South. As a NASCAR fan, I fucking love Daddy's Cup.

Bill Magill, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:11 (seventeen years ago)

Those Buford songs drag something awful, though.

I'm crossing over into enterprise (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:13 (seventeen years ago)

Every album has something to recommend it but

Decoration Day is probably the strongest top-to-bottom.

otm.

Simon H., Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:19 (seventeen years ago)

1. The Dirty South (first heard this on a long drive to Memphis and it really grabbed me)
2. Decoration Day
3. Southern Rock Opera
4. Brighter Than Creation's Dark
5. A Blessing and a Curse

Sadly, still haven't heard anything pre-SRO.

display names have been changed to protect the innocent (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:21 (seventeen years ago)

"Those Buford songs drag something awful, though."

I agree

Bill Magill, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:22 (seventeen years ago)

I'm voting "Southern Rock Opera," which I think represented the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end, but marked some sort of peak nonetheless. I mean, I absolutely love without reservation everything the band has ever done, and haven't sensed much of a drop-off, bar some of "A Blessing and a Curse," but "SRO" is the rare concept album that succeeds on general concept rather than fails trying to come up with a coherent plot. Plus: "Let There Be Rock!"

Anyone ever hear one of Hood's hilarious stories of catching all those butt-rock bands, and how Kansas always seemed to be the opener? Though he told me one time that the reason he went to see the telltale Ozzy Osbourne and Blue Oyster Cult shows he cites in the song was to catch openers UFO.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:25 (seventeen years ago)

Went with "Southern Rock Opera," but "The Dirty South" is crucial listening on my road trips to McNairy County, TN.

Brad C., Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:31 (seventeen years ago)

voted decoration day. SRO almost won just on the strength of "let there be rock" and "zip city," but so much of it drags for me that DD wins.

mte, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:35 (seventeen years ago)

Southern Rock Opera. No contest. I mean, I haven't heard the earlier ones, but everything after that I've felt robbed of $14.99 or whatever. SRO made my hair stand on end (Women Without Whiskey) and once it even made me cry (Angels and Fuselage). Only one or two songs they've put out since have impressed me.

I'm sure this is a minority opinion.

My Neighbor Toronto (kingkongvsgodzilla), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:35 (seventeen years ago)

"Anyone ever hear one of Hood's hilarious stories of catching all those butt-rock bands..."

What the hell is butt rock?

Bill Magill, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 15:50 (seventeen years ago)

What the hell is butt rock?

Near as I can suss, some folks use it to refer specifically to relatively square 4/4 I-IV-V rock'n'roll like AC/DC and the Stones, and other folks use it to refer generically to 80s hair band output of any stripe (e.g. some sugar on me, sister christian, winger)

Excellent question, really. Mind if I start a thread?

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:32 (seventeen years ago)

Anyone ever hear one of Hood's hilarious stories of catching all those butt-rock bands..."

Yes. But when I heard him tell it during "Let There Be Rock" the opening band was always Mahogany Rush.

kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:34 (seventeen years ago)

Didn't realize the term butt-rock was so mysterious! I always thought of it as generally b-list, always-the-opener-never-the-headliner sorts of hirsute '70s rockers. The precursors to hair metal, I suppose. Thus I'd rule out AC/DC and the Stones, but likely including many forgotten bands that shared bills with both.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:41 (seventeen years ago)

"Mind if I start a thread?"

Please do

Bill Magill, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:47 (seventeen years ago)

If Ozzy, BOC and UFO are "butt-rock", then count me in as a fan of this strangely named genre.

Bill Magill, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:48 (seventeen years ago)

I assumed butt-rock meant you sang out of your butt, i.e. Nickelback.

da croupier, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 16:59 (seventeen years ago)

If Nickelback counts, all bets are off.

Bill Magill, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:00 (seventeen years ago)

Alabama Ass Whuppin for me. This band is best captured live.

Jim, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:10 (seventeen years ago)

Nicklebütt

I'm crossing over into enterprise (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:11 (seventeen years ago)

end derail: So what is this BUTT ROCK, anyway?

we now return you to the Mike Cooley appreciation thread

butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:42 (seventeen years ago)

i unintentionally moonwalked in front of him once

da croupier, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:56 (seventeen years ago)

you gotta stay focused on the righteous path.

I'm crossing over into enterprise (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:57 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Saturday, 25 April 2009 23:01 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Sunday, 26 April 2009 23:01 (seventeen years ago)

I missed this, but if you flip Southern Rock Opera (uneven and slightly overrated despite such eternal Cooley classics as "Zip City" and the very Tom T. Hall-worthy "Guitar Man Upstairs") with Brighter Than Creation's Dark (wildly underrated, though maybe not so much here), then I agree with the order.

Hubie Brown, Monday, 27 April 2009 00:28 (seventeen years ago)


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