Hits And Exit Wounds - Alabama 3 Album Review

Alabama 3: link

Album Review

Brother and sisters, raise your glasses to Britain's coolest band.

It's time to take 18 steps to luvin' Alabama 3.

This outfit take their songwriting craft very seriously. You somehow begin to think that they're also poking fun at the world through their never ending eclectic repertoire.

I confess to only 'discovering' them last year (2007) via their outstanding album MOR, (Middle Of The Road). As we all know, Alabama 3 don't do MOR - it's just a bit more fun.

They have the same kind of fun that Dr. Hook had in the early 70s before they became a mainstream act.

Now let's get the facts straight. Alabama 3 have never had a chart hit. Their only commercial exposure is Woke Up This Morning used as the theme to hit TV show The Sopranos. This retrospective (with two new songs *) is possibly long overdue as they've been together for 19 years, with this collection plundering their six studio albums. Their reputation actually lies elsewhere - the stage. Dubbed 'the best live band in Britain', band member Reverend D. Wayne Love (he's not a reverend as you might have gathered) describes their music as "sweet, pretty, country acid-house music." He's havin' a laugh. That description, as tongue-in-cheek as it is, doesn't do justice to their fantastic work which takes in acid house beats, folk, gospel, blues and country and western making this collection a real hybrid of styles. The dance groove is there from the off, on Hypo Full Of Love, full of swampy loveliness, followed by Fun Lovin' Criminals-like urban funkiness of Woke Up This Morning.

Replicating Johnny Cash's country beat, we get twanging guitar and a wild shuffle for Hello ...I'm Johnny Cash were they drop in as many song titles as possible. One of the album's highlights is the sparkling and dance heavy Mansion On The Hill as the beats go into overdrive a la Prodigy. Their country leanings surface on mickey-take ballad (with some Bluegrass throw in for fun) on U Don't Danse To Tekno Anymore, which is the kind of track Shel Silversteen provided for Dr.Hook. They're not shy of getting political either, taking a swipe at racism and the BNP using Woody Guthrie's stylings to push the message. Possibly their funkiest groove is Monday Don't Mean Anything giving a nod to the Happy Mondays' Madchester trippy beat. Taken from MOR, Amos Lee is classic southern swampy rhythm and blues punctuated by some of the dirtiest guitar licks this side of the 'pond', then further in they unload a Ska steady beat on the Orbital Mix of Ska'd For Life that shows they remain fearless in the eclecticism.

File under : Uber cool.

Elly Roberts