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.
1. Hypo Full Of Love (The 12 Step Plan)
2. Woke Up This Morning (Sopranos Mix)
3. Hello..I’m Johnny Cash
4. Mao Tse Tung Said
5. Mansion On The Hill (Arthur Baker remix) *
6. U Don’t Danse To Tekno Anymore
7. How Can I Protect You feat.Aslan (Dope Mix)
8. Woody Guthrie
9. Ain’t Goin’ To Goa
10. Monday Don’t Mean Anything
11. Sad Eyed Lady Of The Low Life
12. Amos Moses
13. Too Sick To Pray
14. Up Above My Head
15. R.E.H.A.B.
16. Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
17. Ska’d For Life (Orbital Mix) *
18. Peace In The Valley
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
