Alabama 3: La Peste
Rock, blues, funk and techno all on one disk? Nah: it's all in one song!
Alabama 3 (aka A3 in the US)
La Peste
Format reviewedCD
Released2000
Product codeELM53CDL
LabelElemental
Track ListingToo sick to pray : Mansion on the hill : Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlife : Walking in my sleep : Wade into the water : Hotel California : Cocaine killed my wife : The thrills have gone : 2129 : Strange : Sinking : Woke up this morning.
ReviewThe sticker on the outside says "Limited edition features theme tune to The Sopranos." Actually, this is a bad mistake by whoever decided to apply that sticker because the version on the CD is very different from the TV version, widely available as an MP3.
Moan over. Alabama 3 are one of the music industry's dirty little secrets. They are English. There are seven of them. In some ways like Dr John but updated. Lyrics are strong - and audible. There is humour here.
The Eagles' Hotel California is treated to a technobeat with funky overtones. The thrills have gone is a pastiche of American country music with bar room overtones - and works so well the pastiche is in danger of becoming an original. Woke up this morning is less techno and more raw than the TV version. It probably fits in better with the album - but it would have been nice to have had both.
The music is complex but clean - and amazingly rythmic. Dark and moody in parts, the album is also uplifting in others. But the main thing is that it is impossible to sit still when it's playing. It's just TOO good for radio - so you've got to go out and buy it. It will never make the top twenty so it will never be cheap or be easy to find. The best rarely is.
Fantastic.
BUY: This disk is presently unavailable via this site.
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