''English Oceans'' is the tenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American rock band

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama ...

, released on March 4, 2014, by ATO Records. It was produced by long-time collaborator David Barbe and recorded during two weeks in the late spring of 2013.

Wes Freed Wes Freed (April 25, 1964 – September 4, 2022) was an American outsider artist. His works appeared on album covers of Lauren Hoffman and numerous American rock bands, including Cracker (band), Cracker and the Drive-By Truckers. Early l ...

again provided the album's artwork and cover. ''English Oceans'' marks the first time the Drive-By Truckers returned to the studio in four years and is one of three records the band has released with two songwriters. It's also the band's first record after bassist Matt Patton officially joined the band. The cover art for this album is from a painting by Wes Freed based on a photograph of Abby, Sylvie, and Grace Weissman. The girls' father, Barr Weissman, made the 2009 documentary about the Truckers and the family has remained close with the band. The original painting hangs in the family's living room.

Music and lyrics

While previous Drive-By Truckers records are largely dominated by guitarist Patterson Hood's songs, fellow guitarist Mike Cooley split songwriting duties with Hood for ''English Oceans''. It also marks the first time Cooley took singing duties on a song written by Hood. According to Chris Conaton of ''

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'', their songs are character studies set to Southern rock music like on the band's previous albums, while ''

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'' journalist Dave Simpson wrote that ''English Oceans'' is "full of their familiar southern rock:

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and

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occasionally adorn storytelling songs which attempt to right wrongs and champion the worker against The Man."

Critical reception

''English Oceans'' received generally positive reviews from

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. At

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album holds an

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score of 79, based on 25 reviews. In a review for

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Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

called it Drive-By Truckers' first exceptional album since ''

Brighter Than Creation's Dark ''Brighter Than Creation's Dark'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Drive-By Truckers. It was released on January 22, 2008 in the United States. Background Recorded during and after the acoustic Dirt Underneath Tour, the album ...

'' (2008) because of how Cooley's songwriting is superior to that of Hood, particularly with songs such as "Shit Shots Count". ''

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'' critic Ian Cohen was also impressed by Cooley's performance, but felt that the album is too often impeded by Hood's more reserved songwriting. At the end of the year, Christgau named ''English Oceans'' the fifth-best album of 2014 in his list for ''

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''.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 16 on ''Billboard'' 200. and No. 4 on Top Rock Albums for chart dated March 22, 2014, selling 18,000 copies in the first week. The album has sold 51,000 copies in the United States as of September 2015.

Track listing

Personnel

Patterson Hood Patterson David Hood (born March 24, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and co-founder of the band Drive-By Truckers. Early life Hood was born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the son of Jan Patterson Adams and David Hood, the longtime bassist ...

- lead and backing vocals, rhythm electric and acoustic guitars, Kay/Baxendale mandocello * Mike Cooley - lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm electric and acoustic guitars, banjo *Brad Morgan - drums, percussion *Matt Patton - bass, backing vocals *Jay Gonzalez - Hammond B-3, piano, Wurlitzer, lead and rhythm electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals

Charts

References

External links

*
Album Stream: Drive-By Truckers - English Oceans
at '' Paste'' {{Authority control Drive-By Truckers albums ATO Records albums 2014 albums