Jason Isbell: Classic Or Dud?

xpost loooooooool that is hilarious and sad

Sad for the producer's cred, happy otherwise: he scanned the invite into his twitter feed (so that's the basis of "reportedly," from the hoss's mouth) and considered what his audition material might consist of (I suggested he hold out for Dancing With The Stars). Would love to see Blake Shelton's big ol' half-bright face if he did come out there on The Voice (that's the one Shelton's on, right?)

("lemon-difficult": excellent, especially if related to #DonLemonReporting, but either way.)

http://youtu.be/7mAFiPVs3tM

The new record is streaming on NPR right now. It's very good, similar in sound to Southeastern. He'll never rock like he did with DBT but he'll probably end up the more popular act.

From Rolling Country, my initial impressions:

Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free: doesn't travel with the more sustained undertone of excitement found in Southeastern---recorded sober, apparently!---but "Are you takin' the grown-up dose?" is still the question, or one of 'em, and it's often remarkable what can sprout from dry, quiet starting over, especially when the past gets out of bed and comes cruising through one's present-day/night of carefully worked out details, brushing them just a hair or three from conventional alignment. Or not, in which case it's conspicuous by etc., but always the singer's cue.
"Children of Children" and "24 Frames" will be the relatively big (npr) radio cuts, if any are, but most tunes as well as words tend to take fetching turns.
http://www.npr.org/2015/07/08/420588068/first-listen-jason-isbell-something-more-than-free

― dow, Friday, July 10, 2015 4:38 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not to say this 'un doesn't *also* sound like it was written and recorded sober---it does, and it also sounds like that's what it's about: dealing with the unfiltered, or differently filtered---but Southeastern seemed like more of an adventure.

― dow, Friday, July 10, 2015 4:42 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post PermalinkMaybe it's just subtle for me---diggin it tho!

"Children of Children" is fucking brutal -

I was riding on my mother's hip, she was shorter than the corn
All the years I took from her, just by being born.

Didn't mean to break the cycle
[...]

You were riding on your mother's hip she was shorter than the corn
All the years you took from her, just by being born.

Is any of his solo stuff better than "outfit?"

probably not, about half of Southeastern and the 400 Unit album are nearly as good though

his entire solo career is a colossal bore imo

Right? I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way.

It's like he needed to prove himself, or he needed the competition, and then the fire went out.

Totally. I like all but one or two of the handful of songs he contributed to DBT (and really like a couple). Dude peaked early (much like his hero Ryan Adams imo)

His best stuff now is definitely in a different register from his DBT songs, but I still think "Cover Me Up," "Elephant," "Relatively Easy," "No Choice in the Matter" and a few others measure up just fine.

yeah there's been no drop in quality imo

Every song I hear of his is really good, and then I hear a second song and don't want to hear any more.

I'm sure he thinks eschewing rock 'n' roll adduces his maturity. I suppose artists earn the right not to give a damn about commercial considerations. A pity.

if only he would come to ilm and read this thread, maybe then he'd do a better job of steering his career *eyeroll*

dude put out the best record he has ever been involved in three years ago, at age 34. that's an opinion. as far as commercial considerations go, he's doing the best he's ever done as we speak. that's a fact.

I hate to be a music geek cliche but yes, the old stuff with the Truckers is best.

tbf not a lot of people's solo stuff is better than "outfit"

A mean industry person in Nashville once told me (before all the Americana awards and stuff, naturally) "he was better when he was fat and drunk." And while I definitely believe the "damaged artist" myth (and propagation thereof) is tired at best and irresponsible at worst, I can't help agreeing with that Nashville dickhead about the declining caliber of Isbell's work since becoming a, err, friend of Bill.

Also, the 400 Unit, while a fine band, are not DBT. Having them playing your songs clearly helps.

This new record is fantastic. His most upbeat set of songs ever.

Pretty sure "If We Were Vampires" is the best song he's ever written.

I'm still not a fan but, yeah, it's a terrific batch of smart songs.

I love this new album

The early 400 Unit albums often had good uptempo numbers music-wise but werent always written so well, or were kind of rambling - and his solo songs were almost always well written but usually slower musically

This is a perfect mix of his writing & the band's talents so you get some really searing lyrics with a faster pace.

It's a great driving record, I have found :D

I mean you can pine for DBT's raw rockin all you want but I dunno if he'll ever go that way, since a lot of that sound was driven by Cooley & Hood's style more than his and he seems to favor a more polished sound generally

Stumbled upon a Saving Country Music pan of the new live album. Checking it out myself, the main criticism of the production is spot on. The drummer and keyboard player sound like they recorded in the Ryman bathroom. I've heard bar bands recorded better.

No buzz for Reunions? It's likely gonna be one of my favorite albums this year.

There's been some discussion over here:

Drive By Truckers fans - does anyone know when in the goddam hell Jason Isbell's solo album is coming out??

But seriously, I understand why some feel he is too MOR, but his twitter game is A+

First of all, i https://t.co/vCxrLYuJbt

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 2, 2020

All this work to get to the heart of the rock and roll truth then You Shook Me All Night Long comes on the radio and it’s as perfect as a damn quail egg

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 4, 2020

<3

your brother, your children, and a stranger who works at the Cinnabon at the Indianapolis airport have all called to wish you a happy birthday pic.twitter.com/t4aiqRuqKi

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 8, 2020

lol

is this not the very definition of a humblebrag

album was underwhelming imo

disagree but i have not gone back after some fairly obsessive listening so maybe it will hit me with less of a boom at end of the year

I'd never been blown away by his solo stuff, but I heard "Cover Me Up" the other day, and was absolutely amazed a song that good slipped under my radar. Maybe the production on "Southeastern" is the problem? I'll have to go back and figure out why I'm not listening to the album everyone likes.

is this not the very definition of a humblebrag

The joke is that he doesn't feel like he deserves to be mentioned in the same group as Paul McCartney and The Who. So yeah, probably a humblebrag, but maybe more just surprised that he of all people was one of the three picked to highlight in that headline.

That's how I read it. I mean, I'm sure hundreds of people wished Ringo a happy birthday, many recognizable names. Why he should be lopped in with Paul McCartney and The Who is anyone's guess.

A nod to the with-it, younger generation!

Pretty douchey move

I think that's pretty harsh, since the guy has showed himself again and again to be remarkably modest and, well, not douchey.

yeah he’s just making fun of himself

Actually the part about The Who was throwing me because I don’t remember seeing Zak Starkey in the birthday bash video I watched yesterday.

I think that's pretty harsh, since the guy has showed himself again and again to be remarkably modest and, well, not douchey.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, July 8, 2020 7:22 PM (thirty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

actually I find the guy pretty smug, but I don't know him in real life so maybe I'm just objecting to his online persona. It doesn't help that his records are the musical equivalent of an oatmeal cookie

lol

yr mom’s an oatmeal cookie

zing

i feel pretty strongly these days about this sort of thing, even to the point of using your own kids as a prop for anything public. they have a right to grow up anonymously enjoying life without being deployed in that manner. i'm agnostic on child acting these days, i think reality tv involving kids is pretty abhorrent, writing books specifically about their lives and upbringing is pretty uncool, etc. Isbell is perfectly capably of writing much more impressionistically, he could write about JTE in a manner that is even deeper and more profound without bleak observations about how his daughter will probably forget him because he ODed in a bathroom.

putting aside the morality of it, it's just a condescending thing to say, and no one likes to be condescended to (or be condescended to on their dead spouse's behalf)

The tide is definitely shifting — for most of my life I’ve been treated like a hysterical person for suggesting out loud that it’s wrong to exploit ur children. I’m glad the tide is shifting.

And it doesn't matter if no one mentioned it last year. Sometimes people keep their conclusions to themselves. Others wait for catalyzing situations like this.

Relevant:

I did not receive a compassionate warning ahead of the song’s release (we found out about the song, when this page was tagged in posts about it the day it came out). While it’s not mandatory that he give me a heads up, considering it’s about my husband and mentions myself, and especially my daughter, it would have been a respectful thing to do, so that we weren’t completely blown apart when we heard it as it was celebrated as a new release.

Soon after, he was made aware that the song was extremely painful (an absolute trauma trigger) and we hoped the message was taken to heart (although he did not acknowledge it) and we hoped to move on and try to forget about it. However, we learned (due to being tagged in posts, etc) that he was opening most shows with it, and then to our complete shock he chose it as the song to play on Jimmy Kimmel on the first show back after the writer’s strike, undoubtedly to a massive audience – putting the song front and center. ‹That was one of the most painful moments following, because it was clear then that he did not care that this song was traumatizing to Justin’s loved ones and was actually pushing the song above all of the others on the album. He could have chosen any other song.

Fwiw, after the Kimmel performance, there were a number articles discussing the song, and I myself have heard a DJ on SiriusXM mention JTE after playing the song.

wow this whole thing is really gross :(

I just saw a clip of the interview where he says the song has to exist blah blah blah and it comes off even worse when you see it and I definitely feel like this dude is toxic

Recovery is such a huge part of his narrative that I can easily imagine it leading him to develop a kind of messianic sense of duty about it. Seems like he's having a hard time separating his own story from a need to cast everyone else's in the same stark terms, which certainly strays into being exploitative when you're talking about easily identifiable real people. I wouldn't say he's "toxic" but just playing armchair psychoanalyst I'd say he still has personality defects that maybe he mistakenly thinks sobriety resolved