Artist: The Band
Album: The Band
Year: 1969
2nd album from the most unoriginal-named band in the history of music. I didn't think Music from Big Pink was all that good. It had one great song, "The Weight," but the rest was just kind of a downer and not a whole lot stood out to me.
This one is somewhat better on the whole. It's kind of a concept album about the rural American South, and its themes are somewhat universal. Again, there didn't seem to be too many bands around this time doing the same thing as The Band, which essentially was country-rock. CCR was doing something vaguely similar, but their variety was murkier and more psychedelia-infused than the clear, stately brand of rock that The Band traded in.
Good album here. Not going to hail it as some kind of masterpiece. Don't really care for Robbie Robertson's voice, and a lot of the songs are kind of samey. But there are some upbeat winners here: "The Day They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Up on Cripple Creek" have strong melodies, and the lyrics on this album really hit hard, tackling some of the tough issues about life in America past and present. If "The Weight" had been on this album...then we'd be talkin'...
Rating: Worth a listen
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