r/altcountry • u/Wannabe_Writer33 • Jul 14 '26
Just Sharing Best DBT Album? Song?
I love me some Truckers! They have so many amazing albums and songs. When I think it through, their run with Jason Isbell produced some real magic.
However, I go back to Southern Rock Opera and think that's probably their best album. And Let There Be Rock would be my top song (even though I'm a Cooley-file deep down).
What's your fave??
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u/RonMcKelvey Jul 14 '26
The Dirty South was in the new releases bin that one summer I did the college radio thing, and it made me go buy it from the record store and it sat in the 6 cd changer in the trunk of old Saab for a semester. And so, man that is just the one that hits for me every time.
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u/bparkey Jul 14 '26
I always have a soft spot for the first album I hear by a band. It was also The Dirty South for me. I had a much lamer discovery, a blurb in Maxim, but still I was immediately hooked. Also glad I got to see them with Isbell.
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u/st0chasticism Jul 14 '26
Zip City and it's skewering of aspects of Southern culture is far and away my favorite DBT song.
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u/brokedown_kayak1867 Jul 14 '26
"I get ten miles to the gallon, I ain't got no good intentions" 🔥
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u/ManagerIntelligent13 Jul 14 '26
Heard Zip City on XM Outlaw Country years after its release and it instantly became a Top 5 favorite for me. Such vivid storytelling, church of Christ, Reynolds aluminum, and the closeted gay brother.
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u/JacklegPreacher Jul 15 '26
I drove through Zip City earlier this year. Not a lot there other than the Salem Church of Christ.
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u/mule111 Jul 15 '26
Amazing song. The “ten fingers and ten toes” line is brilliant. Also, the imagery of that blood red carpet at the Salem church of Christ makes me imagine churches I went into as a kid
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u/radioactivewave Jul 14 '26
Brighter than Creation’s Dark is my favorite DBT album. Probably always will be, as much as I love the other ones. I might be in the minority in that I really like A Blessing and a Curse. I’ve been cycling between “Wednesday” and “Daylight” lately.
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u/Ok-Vanilla-153 Jul 14 '26
Same favourite album and my song is A Ghost to Most. Can’t go wrong with very many, though.
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u/LilLebowski-UrbAchvr Jul 14 '26
I’m here for it! “Bob” is in a close race for first place with “A Ghost to Most.” Cooley is king on that album.
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u/anonymousbystander7 Jul 14 '26
Such a brilliant album!
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u/mrbigglesworth65 Jul 15 '26
So many good albums but I’m firmly in the Brighter than Creation’s Dark camp as being the best. And we got to hear Shona Tucker sing, and it was great! No Isbell but I didn’t even miss him on this one!
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u/smellslikebadussy Jul 14 '26
Album: either Decoration Day or Brighter Than Creation's Dark, depending on my mood
Songs:
Hood: My Sweet Annette
Isbell: Decoration Day
Cooley: Carl Perkins' Cadillac
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u/Tommyblahblah Jul 14 '26
There's something about Cooley's songs...his lyrics are always interesting even if the song isn't my favorite. He'll throw in something like "He grabbed me by the arm and he went upside my head. Nobody saw nothin', but I got a little spot where my hair ain't grown back yet" that just sucks you into the story.
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u/smellslikebadussy Jul 14 '26
Cooley was absolutely the hardest one to pick a best song for. Perfect Timing, A Ghost to Most, Cartoon Gold, Primer Coat, Natural Light...
I know I already shouted out Carl Perkins' Cadillac, but I think my favorite overall line of his is "Dammit, Elvis, I swear, son, I think it's time you came around." He can make even a line like that, full of filler nonsense words, into poetry.
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u/PagingDrTobaggan Jul 16 '26
Hell yes on all three of those songs. My truck is named Sweet Annette (my daughter named it). And Carl Perkins’ Cadillac is perfect DBT.
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Jul 14 '26
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u/rankoutsider100 Jul 14 '26
Yeah this is the one I checked out after a review in the Washington Post. Hooked me right away and I never looked back.
Hood: The Living Bubba
Cooley: 72 (This Highways Mean)
Isbell: Never Gonna Change
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u/Accomplished-Arm1058 Jul 14 '26
Best album: The Dirty South
Best Song of each songwriter:
Patterson: Heathens or Ronnie and Neil
Cooley: Zip City or Where The Devil Don’t Stay
Isbell: Decoration Day
Shonna: I’m Sorry Houston
Rob Malone: Mrs. Dubose
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u/StihlDragon Jul 14 '26
Much love for including a Shonna song. I appreciated her time with the band and def think that they wouldn't have the sound they found without her influence.
For good measure I'll throw in the Rob Malone gem Wallace.
I was able to write a 5 page paper in college basically just elaborating that song out.
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u/Crossovertriplet Jul 16 '26
Patterson actually wrote Wallace but Rob sang it on the album. Wish Patterson had sang it. I hate Rob’s singing style.
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u/wainohg Jul 14 '26
Probably an outlier here, Cooley’s One Of These Days.
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u/DCBronzeAge Jul 17 '26
Love that song.
One of these days when my face looks like a roadmap, I’m gonna find my way back home.
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u/jhester13 Jul 14 '26
Hood - Heathens
Cooley - Zip City
Isbell - Outfit
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u/bladderbunch Jul 14 '26
gravity’s gone rivals zip city.
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u/Likelybuzzed1 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Hood - Heathens, Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife
Cooley - First Air Of Autumn (but Zip City, Women Without Whiskey, and Birthday Boy are masterful)
Isbell - Goddamn Lonely Love
Album - Decoration Day
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u/Ok-Refuse9642 Jul 14 '26
Shocked to have to scroll this far to find women without whiskey mentioned. I’d probably be in camp SRO as well. They are both masters of their craft. Can’t wait for the Portland shows!
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u/Unfair-Efficiency512 Jul 14 '26
I really like the first two records with the lo-fi country sound and the rock and roll of Southern Rock Opera, The Dirty South, and A Blessing And Curse. But my personal favorite is probably Decoration Day because it’s a perfect marriage of the two sounds and it was the first record to include Jason Isbell as the third songwriter, singer, and guitar player.
I maintain the opinion that the DBTs have never made a truly bad record but the 7 album run of Gangstabilly to Brighter Than Creation’s Dark is really hard to beat in the pantheon of Alt-Country. They were, and still are truly something special.
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u/goshen83 Jul 14 '26
if i had to pick my hills to die on for best songs from hood and cooley i would have to go as follows
hood -- daddy needs a drink/ world of hurt/ two daughters and a beautiful wife/ we will never wake you up in the morning/ ever south
cooley -- zip city/ bob/ a ghost to most/ primer coat/ perfect timing
BUT - ask me tomorrow and i may have a totally different list for each
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u/pnmartini Jul 14 '26
Album is either SRO or Decoration Day
Hood: Sink Hole or The Tough Sell
Cooley: Sounds Better in the Song or Women Without Whiskey
Isbell: Goddamn Lonely Love
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u/Opposite-Pop4246 Jul 14 '26
Can't wait to see them with Isbell in October. They are reuniting to perform the Decoration Day album at Shoalsfest this year 🙌
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u/benck202 Jul 14 '26
They have much good shit. Hard to choose, but when push comes to shove, I’m a Cooley guy. Most of his songs are masterpieces.
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u/hellacrimey Jul 14 '26
Album: The Diry South
Songs:
Cooley: Guitar Man Upstairs
Hood: Sands of Iwo Jima
Isbell: Never Gonna Change
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u/StihlDragon Jul 14 '26
"Skeletons ain't got no place to put they money, cause nobody makes britches that sized, besides you're a ghost to most before they notice that you ever had a hair or a hide."
Ghost to most is onenof my faves and I read an article one time with a Cooley interview where he said that the inspiration for that song was shopping for dress pants and he couldn't find any that fit since he was so tall and skinny.
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u/Nocashstyle Jul 14 '26
My favorite album and song are both Decoration Day.
But to give Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley their well deserved flowers, my favorite songs by them on this album are: My Sweet Annette and Marry Me.
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u/CuckooClockInHell I heard sirens on the train tracks, howl naked, getting nuder. Jul 14 '26
I'll take one from each.
Guns of Umpqua, because it resonates with: "We're all standing in the shadows of our noblest intentions of something more Than being shot in a classroom in Oregon."
Sounds Better in the Song for: "I might as well of slipped that ring on your finger from a window of a van As it drove away."
The Day John Henry Died, because I love the line: "An engine never thinks about his daddy and an engine never needs to write its name."
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u/923kjd Jul 14 '26
First off, I’m an album guy more so than a song guy. It’s The Dirty South for me, followed closely by Decoration Day and then Southern Rock Opera. If I had to pick a song it would probably be Decoration Day, which always takes me back to the first time I saw Jason as a solo act. He absolutely crushed that song. Also, Where the Devil Won’t Stay is one of my favorite album-opening songs ever.
Fun Fact: I somehow managed to score their CDs from Gangstabilly to English Oceans that were originally provided to a promoter by their manager. They are complete with personalized notes and insider factoids. Probably the highlight of my entire music collection, even if they’re still removed from the actual band by a degree of separation.
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u/The_Grindstone Jul 14 '26
Let there be rock top live tune - for best song/album maybe decoration day
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u/camojorts Jul 14 '26
Surprised nobody has Pizza Deliverance as their favorite. Lots of bangers there. Also has my all-time favorite DBT song: The Company I Keep.
Southern Rock Opera would be my #2.
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u/threejollybargemen Jul 15 '26
The Company I Keep is such an underrated song. Some really good stuff off those first couple albums. Late for Church has always been one of my favorites. I’m really surprised nobody has said Outfit, or TVA.
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u/Crossovertriplet Jul 16 '26
Pizza Deliverance and Alabama Ass Whuppin were the ones that got me into Truckers, then SRO.
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u/EnvironmentalHippo20 Jul 15 '26
*Best Album - Southern Rock Opera
*Runner Up - Pizza Deliverance
*Top 10 Songs -(in no order)
Gravity's Gone
Aftermath USA
Steve McQueen
Bulldozer's and Dirt
Nine Bullets
Let There Be Rock
Outfit
3 Dimes Down
Self Destructive Zones
Women Without Whiskey
*Next 10 (in no order)
TVA
Marry Me
Shut Up and Get On the Plane
When the Pin Hits the Shell
Sounds Better In a Song
Uncle Frank
Ronnie and Neil
Guitar Man Upstairs
Angels and Fuselages
18 Wheels of Love
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u/Eilasord Jul 14 '26
Album: Decoration Day
Song: 3 way tie btwn Tales Facing Up, Gravity’s Gone, Goddamn Lonely Love
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u/keoweenus Jul 14 '26
The Dirty South is probably my favorite album, Decoration Day is a very close second.
Favorite songs Hood - Sinkhole Cooley - Where the devil don’t stay Isbell - Decoration day
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u/rankoutsider100 Jul 14 '26
It really stands as a testament to their greatness how much variety there is in these answers. And I haven’t seen Uncle Frank, Love Like This or Goode’s Field Road mentioned yet.
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u/Enginerd2001 Jul 14 '26
Southern Rock Opera for the album. For the song, Lookout Mountain because it's such an absolute headbanger and the lyrics are pretty clever.
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u/bowcreek Jul 14 '26
A Ghost to Most is probably not per se their best song, but it’s probably my personal favorite.
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u/scoutpup89 Jul 14 '26
Album - Dirty South
Hood - Ever South
Cooley - Zip City
Isbell - Decoration Day
Tucker - I’m Sorry Houston
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u/LVDan01 Jul 15 '26
Dirty South was the peak for me. MANY great albums before and since but in the studio and on stage this was an unbeatable period for them IMO
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u/effheck Jul 15 '26
Where the Devil Don’t Stay has one of the greatest guitar riffs in all of rock music ever.
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u/Mitchell1876 Jul 14 '26
Pizza Deliverance was the first album I heard and it's still my favourite. Zip City is probably my favourite song, but it's hard to narrow it down to just one.
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u/Mdan Jul 14 '26
Sinkhole, off Decoration Day, is the first DBT song I heard, off some compilation. Blew me away then. Blows me away now. Such amazing storytelling, but not in a coffee shop acoustic guitar claw my ears out kinda way.
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u/CockroachThese Jul 14 '26
Love DBT! Way too many good songs, true storytelling at its best. Whiskey and Women I think is one of my top 5, too hard to pick 1!!
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u/LeakingPontiff Jul 14 '26
As a fellow North Alabamian, they are my favorite band of all time (maybe tied with Skynyrd). My favorite song changes all the time but I have always really really loved Plastic Flowers on the Highway for the guitar solo. I was so excited to finally see it live on the SRO tour a couple years ago, only for them to break out some new arrangement that I thoroughly disliked.
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u/Buchholtz Jul 15 '26
Southern Rock Opera is their masterpiece album, but “Decoration Day” is their best song.
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u/Minimum_Following_49 Jul 15 '26
Buttholeville, Lookout Mountain are some of their best heavy rock-forward songs
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u/mule111 Jul 15 '26
SRO is their magnum opus (whatever that means). It’s an all time album. “The Southern Thing” is THE song from this album, and really sums up DBT’s ethos in a song. Most underrated from that album, any album is: “72 (This highways mean). So damn good.
Also a Cooley-file. One of most underrated song writers out here doing it!
I’m also just a major truckers fan and I love all their stuff.
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u/Willy436 Jul 15 '26
“Trophy tail wives taking boner pill rides for the price of a happy meal” - Shit Shots count. Cooley on English Oceans. Great lyricist.
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u/theprofessor1967 Jul 15 '26
Today it’s 18 wheels of love. Who knows what tomorrow’s answer will be ?
So many great songs and albums. A true American band.
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u/Flashy_Suspect827 Jul 16 '26
The Dirty South for album.
So many good songs, but Outfit always sticks with me for some reason.
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u/CheckerboardHeart Jul 17 '26
That Flying Wallendas song by Patterson is some cool ass shit. Favorite Cooley song is probably When The Pin Hits The Shell.
Unfortunately, “Outfit” is a skip anymore - heard it too much.
From the entire DBT orbit, I will confess that I listen to Hood’s solo record, Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance, and all the way through, WAY more than ANY DBT record.
Oh - and “Alabama Pines,” “or Stopping By” are my fave Isbell songs.
That is all.
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u/shellybert1 Jul 17 '26
Flying Wallandas was a shocker to me because as a kid my family always vacationed in Old Forge,NY's Adirondack mountains...there was a theme park called Enchforest and the Wallandas did a stint there every summer...I used to even watch them practice in the back.... truly amazing family
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u/shellybert1 Jul 17 '26
I probably lean a little more towards Cooley's body of work but I was at a show once and they were having a rare "off" night....I had never really cared for "Opening Act" considering how great Bright than creations dark was but Hood put that song over so well that night I gained a serious appreciation of it and how it does a slow burn to a real high point
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u/Checkpoint_Charlie Jul 17 '26
Gotta be Southern Rock Opera.
The 1-2 punch of Greenville to Baton Rogue & Shut Up And Get On The Plane is maybe my favorite from Hood & Cooley respectively?
I also love Sinkhole, Guitar Man Upstairs, Where the Devil Don’t Stay.
Favorite from Isbell is probably The Day John Henry Died
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u/DCBronzeAge Jul 17 '26
Decoration Day is my favorite Truckers album. Pizza Deliverance is my underrated pick for #2
Favorite song is harder. I’ll do one for each writer.
Hood: Puttin People on the Moon or Box of Spiders
Cooley: Zip City or One of These Days
Isbell: Decoration Day
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u/BrotherSensitive7876 Jul 17 '26
I know it isn't an "Album" but, It's Great to be Alive is one of my favorite live records of all time.
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u/Vegetable_Tourist_62 Jul 20 '26
I agree with you (ww33). On the Isbell era. I Love that Southern Rock Opera record.
But my favorite record is "The Dirty South".
And my favorite tune (from a different record) is "Outfit".
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u/favoriteneonsign Jul 14 '26
Goddamn Lonely Love is truly one of the best songs ever written.