Southern Rock Opera

Talk about balls. The Athens, Georgia–based Drive-By Truckers must have some mighty big ones to try to pull this off. Southern Rock Opera is a ridiculously ambitious 2-CD set that follows vocalist/guitarist Patterson Hood’s semi-autobiographical tale of growing up in Alabama, juggling dreams of rock stardom with a love/hate relationship with his hometown. Woven into the album is also the story of the Southern Rock’s most beloved and, according to the Truckers, most misunderstood band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, as well as a revisionist history of the South, in which the band tries to unravel the mysteries, myths, and contradictions about the Land of Cotton. It’s as much a cultural thesis as it is a rock album, and while it lacks subtlety, the Truckers’ gloriously snarling three-guitar assault captures the bluesy, defiant soul of Southern Rock without a trace of irony. Embracing their roots without embracing the ignorance and racism that’s so intricately tied to them, SRO is the Truckers’ bold response to every cheeky fucker who ever stood in the back of a club yelling, “Freebird!”