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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Decoration Day
by Drive-By Truckers


9.1

based on 16 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The Southern rock band led by Patterson Hood follow up their 2-disc concept album about Lynyrd Skynyrd ('The Southern Rock Opera') with this less conceptual but equally rocking LP.

LABEL:	New West
RELEASE DATE:	17 June 2003
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Indie, Rock, Alt-Country

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Spin

A raging, ragged Behind The Music--15 coal-black odes to the casualties that art leaves behind and that life can't avoid. [Aug 2003, p.111]

100

Mojo

Some of the songwriting is exceptional. [Dec 2003, p.114]

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

Throughout they succeed in rendering Southern gothic as social realism.

ShakingThrough.net

An even stronger collection of songs that builds on it's predecessor's sonic foundations while refusing to get stuck in them.

PopMatters

Few bands today are as good at telling a simple, straightforward, from-the-gut story like the Drive-By Truckers are.

All Music Guide

Somber and smart, Decoration Day also manages to kick like a mule, and if isn't quite a masterpiece along the lines of Southern Rock Opera, it's strong enough to suggest the Drive By Truckers have another masterpiece in them.

Austin Chronicle

A deeply personal album that will resonate with anyone who's ever found their life's path leading them down a dead end.

Billboard

At over an hour, "Decoration Day" does feel a little unwieldy. But for better or worse, there's simply not a single song here that wouldn't be missed.

Amazon.com

The album boasts a handful of crowd-pleasing, party-starting cuts.... Yet more common are moments of startling beauty... and heavy doses of recrimination and regret.

Village Voice

Darker, more personal than political, Decoration Day rocks easier and rolls harder than Southern Rock Opera, but nevertheless proves beyond a doubt that the DBT engine's got enough horsepower to keep on.

Pitchfork

While its peaks fall just a whit short of those on its predecessor, Decoration Day's inward journeys nicely balance out Southern Rock Opera's bombastic expansiveness, and further confirm the Drive-By Truckers' status as the most poetic and insightful Southern rockers in existence today.

Rolling Stone

The best new-school Southern rock you can buy.

Q Magazine

There's a new sense of darkness and despair at their core. [Dec 2003, p.124]

CultureDose.net

Sure it's a stereotype of all the things the South is. At the same time, it is a clearer-eyed view than has been offered before.

Uncut

Subtlety with Skynyrd chops. [Dec 2003, p.117]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Not since Bruce Springsteen's Darkness On The Edge Of Town has a group of rock 'n' roll musicians been so in tune with the trappings and traps of small-town life.

The average user rating for this album is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Eric R gave it a10:
Best rock act going today

Damien S gave it a9:
It's not a masterpiece like "Southern Rock Opera," but if ever a band has followed a masterpiece honorably, this is it. Here there is less of the obvious Skynyrd influence and more of the country and punk influences that began DBT on its path toward southern rock, giving it a more unique sound. Meanwhile, the insightful, powerful songwriting that characterized "Southern Rock Opera" remains in full force. This may be the best band working in the world right now.

CH altcountrytab gave it a 10:
best record of the year

Andrew V gave it a 10:
Maybe the most honest album made in the past 5 years. Pulls no punches and doesn't look down on its subject matter something very easy to do given the subject matter. Amazing, I listened to it every day for about two months.

Phil M gave it an 8:
If "Southern Rock Opera" was the DBTs "Born to Run," then "Decoration Day" is their "Darkness on the Edge of Town." An unblinking look st the lives of the people on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder in the "New South." Excellent.

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Decoration Day by Drive-By Truckers

Decoration Day
by Drive-By Truckers