 Alt-Country begins here .... |
| Review Date: April 17, 2003 |
| Reviewer: B. Dreiling, Lawrence, KS USA |
| Uncle Tupelo might be one of the most impressive and important bands you have never heard of. In the few short years -- and four amazing albums -- of their existence they developed a sound that would turn into the alt-country movement. "No Depression" is the first record they released. You can hear the twang of the country music background that was around them in Bellville, IL, the punk rock sounds of The Clash and The Romones in the heavy, quick guitar riffs, and the folk influences of Bob Dylan in the lyrics of this album. It really transcended any music of the time. The songs individually are all excellent. The songs "No Depression", "Screen Door" and "Live Worth Livin'" stand out in my mind as the best of the disk. Farrar and Tweedy's voices compliment each other track to track while also giving a depth to the sound of the album. Quickly you will pick up on differences of Farrar's raspy voice, and deep outward looking lyrics while Tweedy's voice is smoother and lyrics are more inward looking. I would recommend any current fans of the new resurgence of Alt-Country (the likes of Ryan Adam and Jesse Malin) to pick up this CD and all of Uncle Tupelo's albums to see where the genre began. Fans of Wilco (Tweedy's current band) and Son Volt (Farrar's band) will already know about the greatness of them music, and should also pick of these disks as before the re-release they were almost impossible to find. |
Oh My, yes indeed!
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| Review Date: August 9, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Frank Garon, Breinigsville, PA United States |
Now this, THIS is my kind of music. Punk meets Country, with Rock sprinkled all over for good measure! From the opening note of "Graveyard Shift" to the close of "Blues Die Hard, there's 19 tracks of pure great music to be had here.
This stuff is potent - what creativity, what diversity, what a great sound these guys put out. Makes me mad I didn't discover them sooner, because Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt are two of the best groups I've been lucky enough to come across in the past year or two. Really and truly well worth buying this one is, you will be very glad you did! |
Alternative country comes alive...
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| Review Date: December 19, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Brian E. Burgess, NY, USA |
A friend of mine actually gave me a copy of No Depression on tape shortly after this release came out and told me I had to check this new band out. For some reason it sat at the bottom of my tape collection for well over a year. I finally rediscovered the tape one day and realized it was time to check out the band with the unique name. Man, had I missed out on some seriously good music! There is a nice mix of punk and country on many of the songs on this cd. Songs such as "Graveyard Shift" and "Factory Belt" are quick paced, high-flying country/punk tunes but the song that blew me away (and still does to this day) is the old school country drinking song "Whiskey Bottle". Everytime I hear this song it just sends shivers up my spine as you can feel the pain and heartache in Jay Farrar's voice. Some great bonus tracks on the remastered version including a great version of Gram Parson's "Sin City" and an informative booklet just add to the original beauty of this release. Tupelo move forward into a more traditional country sound after this cd but "No Depression" is a groundbreaking effort.
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Classic
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| Review Date: February 14, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Greg H., Missouri |
| One of the best albums made in the last 14 years. A powerful St. Louis area three-piece band, this is one of the best works of the careers of Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy. The remastered version adds more language to this hard hitting epic. Uncle Tupelo nails a gut wrenching blue collar existence of crappy factory work, hard drinking, no money, smoke filled bars and just living in an environment where the only way you can see a way out is to just get out. Mainstream country and popular music try and usually fail to capture it, often sounding so very insincere. Maybe that's because of the gap that exist between the struggling artist that often write the songs and the multi-millionaires that record them. On this album there is little doubt that Uncle Tupelo is living what they write and sing about. Songs like: Graveyard Shift, Before I Break, No Depression, Factory Belt, Whiskey Bottle, Life Worth Livin' and Screen Door strike directly at the working class soul. They even bring a sincerity to the two songs on this disc they didn't write; the title track "No Depression" and "John Hardy". This is the album that launched a genre that has been too often overlooked. It may the fate of this album that it is one of the greatest albums that a good part of the country will never hear. |
A Classic! From The Buffalo Springfield of Its Era
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| Review Date: February 28, 2010 |
| Reviewer: A. Boyd, Boston MA |
For me, Uncle Tupelo in the early `90s was a modern/alternative version of Buffalo Springfield - deep! songwriting talent from two lead singer songwriters in Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrer (akin to Neil Young and Stephen Stills). Their breakup in '94 was a downer, but did produce Son Volt (Farrer) and Wilco (Tweedy) - two great bands resulting from one amazing! Band. History aside, No Depression stomps its way through a sound only Uncle Tupelo could create - a fantastic clash of alternative/punk and alt/country. Tweedy/Farrer wrote complex songs with Uncle Tupelo that careened recklessly only to grind to screeching halts, and back. No Depression does not have a bad song, and if you can tolerate the variety of styles, often within a single song, you will truly be rewarded. This was a great, unique, original band.
GENRES: Alternative, Alt/Country.
BUY IF YOU LIKE: Wilco, Son Volt, The Pixies, Pavement, Drivin' N' Cryin'.
MUST HEAR TRACKS: "Graveyard Shift," "That Year," "Before I Break," "Factory Belt," "Train." |
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