The Unraveling
by Drive-By Truckers
  • Record Label: ATO
  • Release Date: Jan 31, 2020
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
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  1. 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 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    Because 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.    … Expand
  2. 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, 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-drivenOne 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.… Expand
  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 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"
  4. Kebber10
    Feb 1, 2020
    4
    Stopped listening to album mid way through second track - ‚make money‘.. although the 15 minute repetition of 4 chords in ‚shopify’ was tolerable the second track with its variable presentation of a simple melody took the biscuit
  5. thebowmanbody
    Feb 1, 2020
    1
    This is not a good album. The politics is just too much and the songs are poor. I usually buy DBT albums for the Cooley songs and there are only 2 here. What has happened to this once great band? Very disappointing.
  6. Chucky666
    Mar 6, 2020
    0
    This album is what happens when a band gets woke and forgets about fun. A hollow, boring album both musically and lyrically. Did the DNC write these songs for them? How unoriginal.
    I will always have a place for them in my heart, but this album is trash.
  7. farmer11
    Feb 19, 2020
    4
    They used to tell stories with their songs. It wasn't preachy, but gave you a window into a different point of view. It's what made them one of my favorite bands since the early 2000s...even since Southern Rock Opera.

    New stuff just kind of repeats well-worn media talking points and protest sign slogans. Just kind of a boring album both lyrically and musically. It bores me in the    They used to tell stories with their songs. It wasn't preachy, but gave you a window into a different point of view. It's what made them one of my favorite bands since the early 2000s...even since Southern Rock Opera.

    New stuff just kind of repeats well-worn media talking points and protest sign slogans. Just kind of a boring album both lyrically and musically. It bores me in the same way that simplistic, jingoistic country music bores me. The other side of the same coin. I'm personally bummed about the new direction, but doesn't change how much I love the old stuff. Hope they keep doing what makes them happy.    … Expand
  8. Lajaleaa
    Mar 22, 2020
    8
    ( 83/100 )

    La seriedad con la que esta banda toca se agradece. La banda de Country con un toque de Noice y Psychedelic logra adentrarnos en el lado pesado y complicado del trabajo cotidiano y la vida diaria. Para agrado del público, el álbum está producido por David Barbe y Matt Ross Spang quienes equilibran entre detalles que le dan esencia a la música y un ritmo serio y de mano dura    ( 83/100 )

    La seriedad con la que esta banda toca se agradece. La banda de Country con un toque de Noice y Psychedelic logra adentrarnos en el lado pesado y complicado del trabajo cotidiano y la vida diaria. Para agrado del público, el álbum está producido por David Barbe y Matt Ross Spang quienes equilibran entre detalles que le dan esencia a la música y un ritmo serio y de mano dura que logra presentar sensibilidad. Hay mucho horizonte, hay muchos ocasos y demasiada tierra seca que disfrutar para el vaquero interior de la gente.
    -
    The seriousness which is played in this album is grateful. The Country band with some touches of Noice and Psychedelic achieve to take us inside of the heavy and complex place of daily work and life. Thankfully for the public, the album is produced by David Barbe and Matt Ross-Spang who balances between details that give essence to the music and a serious and heavy-handed rhythm that manages to be sensible. There is a lot of horizons, many sunsets and much dry dirt for the inner cowboy of everyone to enjoy.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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
  1. 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.
    Read full review
  2. Pitchfork
    Feb 11, 2020
    71
    The Unraveling takes meticulous care with each mix.
    Read full review
  3. 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]
See all critic reviews »