It's Great to Be Alive! [Live]
by Drive-By Truckers
  • Record Label: ATO
  • Release Date: Oct 30, 2015
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
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  1. harmattan
    Nov 4, 2015
    9
    Metacritic's rating algorithm is gamed, that's how. That's the only explanation how you can have 4 reviews at 80 and an average score of 84.

    As for this album, DBT has always been a live band, and this exemplifies that. It's a superb listen.
  2. Ricko
    May 23, 2020
    8
    This was my introduction to Drive-By Truckers. A three-disc live album with 35 tracks might be a bit heavy for the job of an introduction and is more for fans of the band. All the same, it luckily led me to checking out the rest of their back catalog. Drive-By Truckers are a band I could never imagine myself enjoying so much but they have an honesty and energy that is hard not to like. AsThis was my introduction to Drive-By Truckers. A three-disc live album with 35 tracks might be a bit heavy for the job of an introduction and is more for fans of the band. All the same, it luckily led me to checking out the rest of their back catalog. Drive-By Truckers are a band I could never imagine myself enjoying so much but they have an honesty and energy that is hard not to like. As live albums go, it's well recorded, captures the bands sounds brilliantly and would absolutely compel you to go see them live. With the right listening setting you can be there on the night with this record. It dips into their whole career and shows all facets of their sound from the stomping southern rock to the country folk.… Expand
  3. Taylooor
    Oct 30, 2015
    8
    Can someone explain to me how 4 reviewers can give this an 80 but the meta-score then becomes an 84? I never write reviews. It looks like I need a few more characters to submit this......
  4. herndonrules
    Jan 18, 2016
    8
    A nicely done package which does a fine job of encapsulating the DBT canon. The songs, for the most part, are well chosen, but lean a bit heavily, and not unexpectedly, on the most recent release, "English Oceans". Having seen them many times, most recently on the English Oceans Tour, a bit of the rawness of the early days has been polished up...but not totally, and that's a good thing.A nicely done package which does a fine job of encapsulating the DBT canon. The songs, for the most part, are well chosen, but lean a bit heavily, and not unexpectedly, on the most recent release, "English Oceans". Having seen them many times, most recently on the English Oceans Tour, a bit of the rawness of the early days has been polished up...but not totally, and that's a good thing. The performances are heartfelt and passionate and the stories draw you in, which are some of the many reasons why this band's work over the past 15 years stands favorably against any band out there. One additional nit has to do with the quality of the recording, which is not the strongest, surprising given the care given to the rest of the package. Still, if you are looking for a very nice document of what a DBT live show is like, this album does you justice. Good work!… Expand
  5. glennrwordman
    Feb 15, 2017
    10
    A remarkable live album. It is consistent with other great ones, in that yes, while you can't feel like you're actually there, the vibrancy and utter commitment of the band to bringing the songs--many of them here in superior version to their studio counterparts--comes really close to capturing the experience.

    Highlights range from the epic (an emotional "Grand Canyon"; "Angels and    A remarkable live album. It is consistent with other great ones, in that yes, while you can't feel like you're actually there, the vibrancy and utter commitment of the band to bringing the songs--many of them here in superior version to their studio counterparts--comes really close to capturing the experience.

    Highlights range from the epic (an emotional "Grand Canyon"; "Angels and Fuselage", "A World of Hurt", all Patterson Hood songs) to Cooley's relatively more succinct "A Ghost to Most," "Where the Devil Don't Stay", "Birthday Boy" and the beautiful "Sounds Better in the Song", and several others, as well as a killer "Sink Hole" and "Putting People on the Moon". The ONLY track that doesn't work for me is the old Adam's House Cat track "Runaway Train" which is what it is: embryonic DBT, a hair more cliched and unsubtle compared to their later work.

    It holds up to repeated listenings, and new things get revealed each time. Easily one of my favorite records, of any kind, ever.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

28
#28 Best Album of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Universal acclaim - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Classic Rock Magazine
    Jan 27, 2016
    70
    At three hours-plus, it’s a lot of breadline bluster, but it’s life-affirming nonetheless.
    Read full review
  2. Uncut
    Jan 12, 2016
    80
    This 3CD/5LP set ably performs the mixed blessing of making you feel that you are there, and annoyed that you weren't. [Feb 2016, p.74]
  3. Blurt Magazine
    Dec 2, 2015
    100
    Somehow It’s Great To Be Alive seems like the essential set, given that it boasts some 35 tracks spanning all phases of their collective career. It shows them in their true element--raucous, raw and unapologetic, a combination certain to appeal to diehard devotees and practically anyone else whose taste in music is generally affirmed by frequenting sweaty beer joints and any local roadhouse bar.
    Read full review
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