The cd title, "Southern Rock Opera", is a perfect description of the music that lies within. Rock n Roll with that southern fried texture. With, of course, the "opera" part a reference to the way the lyrics form a story. There is no operatic singing involved with this recording.

I first noticed this cd at one of my local FYE music store monopolies. Three things struck me about it. 1st was the kickass band name. 2nd was the smooth, spooky cover art. And 3rd was the implications of the cd title. I'm a sucker for a rock opera. I couldn't just buy the cd on the spot. But after a ton of online research consisting of reading two reviews, I knew it was a gem of a cd.

"What is this crap!?" was my first reaction to my first spin of the first cd. I am not really a fan of the southern rock sound. Fortunately, my opinions change. I soon began to pick up on how well done this double disc set is.

Just about every song has it's own voice. The guitars are masterfully done. The most impressive feature, however, is the vocals. They control every driving force of the music. They don't use the same formula each song, but instead use different vocal styles and several different vocalists. There is even some spoken word narraration to help propell things.

As a 2 disc set, it comes off fairly well. Drive By Truckers are clever and weave songs that don't get redundant. The vocalists don't get old.

Consider checking it out.

peace.