The Unraveling
by Drive-By Truckers
  • Record Label: ATO
  • Release Date: Jan 31, 2020
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
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  1. Chicago Tribune
    Jan 31, 2020
    88
    DBT sounds like it’s just getting re-started on its 12th studio album, “The Unraveling” (ATO). ... Even better are the songs that describe the emotional toll behind those headline-making, stomach-churning issues.
  2. Classic Rock Magazine
    Feb 6, 2020
    80
    Drive-By Truckers have never been angrier, but, just as crucially, they've never been more musically eloquent. [Mar 2020, p.86]
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  3. AllMusic
    Jan 31, 2020
    80
    The Unraveling is a dire yet vivid depiction of the American zeitgeist at a crucial time in the nation's history, and a decisive collection of songs these musicians clearly wish they didn't have to write.
  5. Uncut
    Jan 29, 2020
    80
    This is a tremendous album. [Mar 2020, p.22]
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  6. Slant Magazine
    Jan 29, 2020
    80
    It’s perhaps their most confrontational, challenging effort to date, an intricate work that’s more a reflection of than an antidote to the darkness.
  7. Mojo
    Jan 28, 2020
    80
    When it rocks, it rocks hard, and when it slows down--which it does several times--it's grimmer and more emotional. [Feb 2020, p.84]
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  8. Q Magazine
    Jan 28, 2020
    80
    Pushes the DBT envelope a little further and for a band whose catalogue boasts more double-albums than single ones--at 43 minutes it's extra punchy, and fully fit for impeachment-fuelling purpose. [Mar 2020, p.117]
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  9. American Songwriter
    Jan 28, 2020
    80
    The Unraveling is a perfect storm of anger, resentment, frustration and even glimmers of hope, wrapped in the sharp, terse musical invention we have come to expect from these veterans. In other words, it’s another classic Drive-By Truckers release.
  10. Glide Magazine
    Jan 28, 2020
    80
    This album is especially personal.” Not only that, strikingly, while not a quantum leap, it’s a major step forward in lyrical and musical intensity from its predecessor.
  11. Paste Magazine
    Jan 30, 2020
    75
    While their symbiosis has helped make the Drive-By Truckers one of the most solid and successful indie-rock acts of the past 25 years or so, the band’s fans are the real beneficiaries. Even when the subject matter is as bleak as it can be on The Unraveling, the Truckers always have something to say that’s worth listening to.
  12. Pitchfork
    Feb 11, 2020
    71
    The Unraveling takes meticulous care with each mix.
  13. Punknews.org (Staff)
    Sep 17, 2020
    70
    This is a good album, but it’s one of those albums that either has too much or too little of something.
  14. PopMatters
    Feb 3, 2020
    70
    The Unraveling is another in a never-ending line of quality releases from Drive-By Truckers, but it's not a lot of fun.
  15. No Ripcord
    Feb 3, 2020
    70
    The Unraveling finds Hood and Cooley as fiery as they’ve ever been. If American Band proved that the Drive-By Truckers still had plenty left to say, The Unraveling shows that they can allow themselves a bit of fun in the studio while getting their message across.
  16. Rolling Stone
    Jan 31, 2020
    70
    The Drive-By Truckers’ 12th record is less a creative high peak than a sturdy reminder of the band’s admirable persistence. And like every Truckers record, the plentiful moments of middle American reportage (“21st Century USA”) and fractured underdog beauty (“Armageddon’s Back in Town”) make The Unraveling, at the very least, another sturdy addition to the band’s almost peerless discography.
  17. Exclaim
    Jan 28, 2020
    70
    Although The Unraveling is a strong album thematically, songwriters Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley do little to push these songs forward sonically, as tracks like the Replacements-lite "Heroin Again" and the nightclub crooner "Grievance Merchants" can attest. Nevertheless, on The Unraveling, Drive-By Truckers deliver another socially charged to-the-bone manifesto that sticks closely to their newfound credo: If the country's still broke, keep trying to fix it.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 17
  3. Negative: 2 out of 17
  1. notarydpo
    Feb 3, 2020
    9
    One of the most cohesive records DBT has released. Many of these songs have been getting the live workout for the better part of a year, butOne of the most cohesive records DBT has released. Many of these songs have been getting the live workout for the better part of a year, but these studio versions feel definitive. Echoes of mid-70s (and early 90s) era Neil Young (on the droning eight minute closer 'Awaiting Resurrection') sit alongside string-tinged delicate songs ('Rosemary With a Bible and a Gun') and guitar-driven stompers ('Slow Ride Argument' and 'Armageddon's Back In Town') that would have been at home on 'A Blessing and a Curse'. Hood's contributions far outnumber Cooley's, but 'Grievance Merchants' is as earnest and angry a song as the latter's ever written. 'The Unraveling' is not a feel-good album (a few seconds-long bursts of perfectly-phrased optimism withstanding), but it the absolute right record for times like these.… Full Review »
  2. akajazzman
    Feb 3, 2020
    9
    Because the nation is so politically divided, and because this album is so clearly an indictment against Trump's America, we can expect halfBecause the nation is so politically divided, and because this album is so clearly an indictment against Trump's America, we can expect half of user reviews to be bad. However, if you admire DBT's drift toward progressive politics (or at least now they're more overt about it) that won't be a problem for you.

    When one of my favorite bands has been around for over 20 years, and they haven’t made a truly great album in 10, I basically just hope to capture a handful of great songs on a good album. Which is more than we have here. This is an excellent album.

    Trump’s America certainly provides lyrical inspiration, and however it’s the infusion of some new sounds to their repertoire that create some standout tracks. Notably, Mike Cooley’s hard rockin “Slow Ride Argument,” with its atypical – for DBTs – layered vocals over one of their best hooks in years. Then there’s Patterson Hood’s “Thoughts and Prayers”, with seething vocal anger to match our frustration with useless thoughts and prayers offered after mass shootings. “21 Century USA” is almost too much on the nose, as Hood literally name checks the stores and restaurants “just like any town anywhere,” yet it works great, and it’s a lovely country-rock tune with a memorable melody. America is lucky to have the Drive-By Truckers still putting out good to great albums.    … Full Review »
  3. MusicGuyMack
    Feb 5, 2020
    9
    Like a modern-day "Born in the USA", DBT's latest works within the familiar trappings of their country-lite heartland rock sound to deliver aLike a modern-day "Born in the USA", DBT's latest works within the familiar trappings of their country-lite heartland rock sound to deliver a scathingly engrossing critique on the sociopolitical state of a country they - and many of us as well - scarcely recognize as their own anymore.

    Choice Cuts: "Thoughts and Prayers", "Heroin Again", "Babies in Cages"    … Full Review »
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