This has to be the peak of the Isbell period of the band. A great, great album! But dammit, the Live at the 40 Watt DVD is the definitive document of this period!! Buy or die!! And crank that DVD to ear bleeding levels on a good surround system. Nothing and nobody are better!!! Brilliant and finest achievements of the DBT!!!! Now get it and get re-born!!! P.S. check out the Mother Truckers too!!!

This incarnation of DBT may have been the best of them all. Cooley
and Hood are always good, and Isbell adds some solid tracks too. You get
3 distinct voices making for great variety. The band blends socially
conscious songs, southern rock, and alt-country perfectly. I would put
the band as a whole right up there with the most popular American singer-
songwriters (ie: Springsteen, Mellencamp, Petty) and they seem to have a
lot more fun than any of them on stage. Its a shame they dont have the
publicity machine behind them. They should be much bigger than they are.
Oh well, more room for the rest of us up near the stage! God bless
Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley - two talented American treasures who
should be much more famous than they are.

I know that average reviews are not viewed as all that "helpful", but, like the previous reviewers from Indianapolis and Scotland, I thought I'd offer one anyway.

I went out and bought The Dirty South after I read the rave reviews on Amazon. From most of the reviews here, you would think that the Drive By Truckers rival the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, and early ZZ Top. According to one reviewer, they are the "saviours of rock." IMO, that's going way too far. The DBT are probably more on par talent-wise with the VRoys (from the late 90s), the Old 97s, and the North Mississippi Allstars - all decent bands, all with a good deal of talent, but ultimately one Duane Allman or Billy Gibbons short (in other words, a long way away) from being the next great Southern rock band.

Still, the Dirty South is a pretty decent album. "Lookout Mountain", "Never Gonna Change" and "Where the Devil Don't Stay" showcase the DBT's driving, dense guitar sound. "The Day John Henry Died" and "Carl Perkins' Cadillac" show that the band can write good music to go along with their strong lyrics if they put their mind to it. And "Danko/Manuel" is a great, slow country song.

For me, the main problem with The Dirty South is when the band uses their music simply as background to their vocals, which is the case on nearly half the songs. Too few hooks or changes in tempo makes for a rather bland and repetitive listening experience after awhile. "Cottonseed" and "Daddy's Cup" are songs that do absolutely nothing for me because of this.

A decent album, yes. A classic? Far from it.

A logical progression from Decoration Day to A Blessing and a Curse, the lyrical content is actually stepped up a notch by all three of the fellas on this one. It's hard to point out a lousy song here, and there are a handful that are truly works of art. Patterson- always a favorite, but the Cooley tunes on this disc really knock me out.
If ya love the other 2 I mentioned, you'll love this one too.

I have a tendency to ramble on, so I'll just do a little breakdown of the album.

1. Where The Devil Don't Stay - 4/5
2. Tornadoes - 4/5
3. The Day John Henry Died - 4/5
4. Puttin' People On The Moon - 4/5
5. Carl Perkin's Cadillac - 4/5
6. The Sands Of Iwo Jima - 2/5
7. Danko / Manuel - 5/5
8. The Boys From Alabama - 4/5
9. Cottonseed - 3/5
10. The Buford Stick - 4/5
11. Daddy's Cup - 5/5
12. Never Gonna Change - 5/5
13. Lookout Mountain - 5/5
14. Goddamn Lonely Love - 5/5

All in all, this is a great album. The boys from Alabama don't disappoint...