• Band Name: Son Volt
  • Record Label: Sony
  • Release Date: Jul 12, 2005
Okemah And The Melody Of Riot Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 27 Ratings

  • Summary: Jay Farrar has revived his post-Uncle Tupelo outfit Son Volt for their first album in seven years.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. It's a bracing and welcome return to form for an important artist.
  2. Even when his overintellectualized lyrics smear into a palette of industrial gray, the guitars provide a strong human heartbeat.
  3. While Okemah is clearly driven by Farrar's vision, it suitably develops Son Volt's sound, bringing it clearly into the mid-2000s while giving a nod toward the influences of bygone days that have always been a factor in Son Volt's alt-country tendencies.
  4. 60
    By focusing on the temporal, he reduces himself to simple protest music rather than timeless folk. [Aug 2005, p.104]

See all 18 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. JeffT
    10
    "Rock and roll around my head alive a kicking" Jay Farrar writes phrases and lyrics that are both simple and layered with complex meaning. Listen to this album three times and you'll be hooked. Collapse
  2. JorinR
    8
    This is the best REM album since Reckoning!
  3. rhondaM
    7
    I think the lead guitarist and drummer is what makes the band. I Beleive his name is Chris frame. Your awesome Chris Frame.
  4. Jeremy
    4
    Feels so damn forced, a commercial motivated record move instead of an artisitc one. Why does he write this eulogy to the vinyl record then deliver this multimedia extravaganza DVD/CD with the jarring repetetive reprise of a half baked song? For me this officially assigns Jay Farrar to the washed up list. Expand

See all 18 User Reviews