Exile on Coldharbour Lane

by

Alabama 3

Edit

Those who like the theme song for The Sopranos but that are hesitant to purchase this CD thinking that the band is nothing but a one trick pony can put your fears to rest. "Exile on Coldharbor Lane" contains at least a half a dozen songs that are the equal to "Woke Up This Morning." The album is, in fact, the best techno rock album released in the 1990s by anyone not named Trent Reznor. Combining elements of rock, country, blues and yes, even gospel into their funky beats, these guys know how shake your booty while also challenging your frontal lobes. They also get the prize for managing to turn a John Prine song ("Speed and the Sound of Lonliness") into a house dancefloor number.

With lyrics ranging from fundamentalism to Marxism, all firmly tongue-in-cheek, the other great performances here include the truly funny "U Don't Dans 2 Techo Anymore," which sounds like Big Audio Dynamite meets Merle Haggard. Also terrific are the socialist rant "Bourgeoiusie Blues," "Ain't Goin' to Goa," and the closing hilarity of "Peace in the Valley." They are even adventureous enough to risk a number with a name like "Mao Tse Tung Said," and succeed! Only a couple of clunkers late in the proceedings keeps the album out of five star territory.

Overall, a hip, funny and engaging album that belies the notion that A3 are merely a one song wonder.

the american version (the one with the bonus cd) weren't butchered. i don't mean that vulgarity is edited; rather, there is a great section at the end of the original version of "mao tse tung said" that was removed for some reason. the original version of "mao" (on the british release) has an extra 2 minutes or so at the end of that track that involves a school teacher (or someone similar in function) educating a young girl about militant socialism. it's absolutely hilarious. unfortunately, on the american version, it's also absolutely not there. as far as i can see, there is no excuse whatsoever for such an edit, especially considering that the portion of "mao" that was taken out is one of the highlights of the original release.