The Road Most Taken

Album: Drivin' n' Cryin', Mystery Road, 1989

Acquired: One of probably 120 purchases from the Blacksburg Record Exchange. The storefront is probably now an American Apparel franchise. Change sucks. As I shall argue below.

Best Track: "Honeysuckle Blue"

Lasting Memory: For one of my shows on Virginia Tech's student radio station, WUVT, I played an entire hour of "Hell" songs. Three of the songs I spun back-to-back-to-back were titled "Straight to Hell," including one of the standout tracks from Mystery Road. And before you say it, I'll admit that this anecdote proves that I was once just clever enough to be boring.

The familiar need not be dull, however. Nor should it be dismissed as uniaginative. While I'll readily concede that classic rock stations play more to people's unwillingness or inability to keep with new sounds than to the preservation of truly timeless culutural artifacts, I also have to acknowledge that Tod Rundgren's "Hello, It's Me" needs to be played at least once an hour somewhere. (Yikes! Definitely a pre-MTV success story.)

Hearing what we like to hear makes us like what we hear. Sonic innovation is fine up to a point, but playing close to the known usually sells more downloads. At the same time, there is not-so-fine line between showing one's influences and aping one's betters. I won't link to any of the prime offenders, but I'm sure any of us could name dozens of bands who sound so much like bands we've heard before that we have to wonder why they didn't go all out and become Mini Kiss.

What I'm getting at here is that Drivin' n' Cryin' neither ivented nor reinvented any wheels. DnC's genius and lasting appeal is that they could sound like anybody's favorite honky tonk or anyone's most feveredly imagined stadium concert. They do both styles faithfully, but they also add just enough of their own whatever that is to make it worth your effort to listen to DnC.

A writer for The Onion who is currently embarked on a project very similiar to my own said a lot of what I said here (probably better). The takeaway message is that if you're going to wear your influences on our ears, you better be damn good at what you're repackaging. DnC is that damn good, to quote the immortal Triple H.

Check out "Honeysuckle Blue," which is nothing if not both cliched and completely southern rockin'.

Up Next: Drivin' n' Cryin', Fly Me Courageous, 1990

Note from Management: For anyone kind enough to wonder, I'm feeling much better. Any lameness of this post can't be blamed on the rhinovirus. I miss the excuse to be honest. In that spirit, I'll pass along a rhinovirus you can blame for whatever doesn't come out just right today. Enjoy your acellular whipping boy.