Alabama 3 | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Alabama 3 was one of the oddest musical outfits to arise from late-90s London, but also one of the most original. The bands origins are shrouded in urban myth -- the band likes to claim that the three core members met in rehab, while their Southern accents have many believing they are from the U.S. state of Alabama, although it appears vocalists Rob Spragg and Jake Black met at a London rave when Spragg heard Black singing Hank Williams "Lost Highway." Bonding, they set out about creating an agenda of Americana, electronica, leftist politics, and laughter. Joined by DJ Piers Marsh, the trio issued two 12" dance singles that combined their interest in gospel and country music, yet these went over the heads of the London dance scene. In Italy, where Spragg and Black began singing Howlin Wolf songs over Marsh mixes, the idea of the band began to take shape and back in Brixton, South London, they recruited a crew of musicians to shape their vision. This, combined with brilliantly theatrical live shows, meant the band attracted a huge South London following long before they had a record deal. Signed to One Little Indian, their 1997 debut, Exile on Coldharbour Lane, was a groundbreaking work that effortlessly fused gospel, country, blues, and house music. Dubbed "chemical country," Alabama 3 broke down the barriers between line dancers and ravers. The bands penchant for absurdity was displayed in Spragg and Blacks insistence on singing, rapping, and preaching in deep Southern accents alongside samples of cult leader Jim Jones preaching Maoist philosophy and the renaming of all members -- Spragg became the Reverend Larry Love; Black became D. Wayne Love. Yet the songs were strong and imaginative and their observations on contemporary U.K. culture were spot-on: country and blues were used to look at the excesses of dance culture -- all with a pumping 808 beat behind them. The band was picked up on by U.K. roots DJs Charlie Gillet and Andy Kershaw, but the U.K. music press, at the height of its infatuation with Britpop, ignored the group or derided them as a novelty. Fortunately, U.S. audiences displayed a greater degree of irony, and cult TV series The Sopranos employed the bands "Woke Up This Morning" as its theme music. Unfortunately, country-lite vocal outfit Alabama sued over the groups name, which means in the U.S. Alabama 3 is now known as A3. Album number two, La Peste, followed in 2000 and found the band in more muted form. Again, the gospel-country-blues axis was there and the shows were wonderfully outrageous, but it appeared that two years of touring and a stronger awareness of the mounting casualties of rave culture and New Labor Britain had made the band wear a bleaker face. Where their debut cheekily nodded at the Stones seminal double album, La Peste shared with it a bleak, murky sound that demanded the listener dig into the songs to discover their meaning. In 2007, with a continuing reluctance to conform, the band completed an equally dark and wonderfully uncompromising album titled M.O.R. Unfortunately, its doubtful that A3 will shake loose their cult status anytime soon, considering that their constant mashing of opposing genres results in a tremendously original soundscape, and this makes it nearly impossible to classify the band or nail it down to a single specific genre. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 18 Title: Exile on Coldharbour Lane Released: 1997-08-01 Tracks: 19 Duration: 1:53:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Converted (06:15) 2 Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (05:57) 3 Woke Up This Morning (05:16) 4 U Dont Dans 2 Tekno Anymore (03:37) 5 Bourgeoisie Blues (04:47) 6 Ain’t Goin’ to Goa (03:56) 7 Mao Tse Tung Said (03:23) 8 Hypo Full of Love (The 12 Step Plan) (06:25) 9 The Old Purple Tin (9% of Pure Heaven) (04:05) 10 The Night We Nearly Got Busted (04:37) 11 Sister Rosetta (06:43) 12 Peace in the Valley (05:47) 1 Woke Up This Morning (Urban Takeover mix) (06:20) 2 Woke Up This Morning (Yall Gotta Come mix) (06:36) 3 Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (Self Preservation Society Cained club mix) (09:30) 4 Woke Up This Morning (Drillaz in the Church mix) (06:35) 5 Woke Up This Morning (Dam Metal Jam mix) (08:28) 6 Aint Goin to Goa (US mix) (07:40) 7 Aint Goin to Goa (long version) (07:06) |
| Exile on Coldharbour Lane : Allmusic album Review : While it wasnt a delayed smash hit on the level of the Proclaimers "Im Gonna Be (500 Miles)," when the loping, ominous "Woke Up This Morning" was selected as the theme for The Sopranos, the surprise success of that TV series meant that A3 finally got some American attention, a year after the release of this album, the bands debut. Exiles attempt to be the next Screamadelica, evincing the same blend of techno, Stonesy rock, and gospel, doesnt quite play out as well as Primal Screams masterpiece. While Exile recombines its influences into each song rather than shifting from tune to tune like Screamadelica, like many fusion attempts, things sometimes fall right down the middle instead of achieving a new and striking synthesis. It comes pretty close, though, and compared with something like Mobys overrated genre exercise Play, Exile is much less self-conscious and serious, thanks to some drawling between-song skits and amusing semi-raps. Vocalist Larry Love has a good mid- to deep-level voice, investing his often witty tales of life, music, and good lovin with a husky world-weariness à la Lee Hazlewood. Equally notable is the Mountain of Loves harmonica work, which he interweaves through all the songs without overpowering the rest of the band or pointlessly showing off. The rest of the band get in some good grooves here and there, never completely standing out but still giving it a good effort. Definite highlights include the brilliantly titled tear-in-my-beer lament "You Dont Dance to Techno Anymore," the electro-Marx-house combination of "Bourgeoisie Blues," and the twangy romp "The Night We Nearly Got Busted." | ||
 | Album: 2 of 18 Title: La Peste Released: 2000-10-16 Tracks: 12 Duration: 58:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Too Sick to Pray (04:46) 2 Mansion on the Hill (03:00) 3 Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlife (04:43) 4 Walking in My Sleep (06:09) 5 Wade Into the Water (05:15) 6 Hotel California (05:34) 7 Cocaine (Killed My Community) (04:44) 8 The Thrills Have Gone (04:30) 9 2129 (04:24) 10 Strange (05:27) 11 Sinking... (05:45) 12 Woke Up This Morning (04:09) |
| La Peste : Allmusic album Review : Most Americans introduction to A3 came via the use of the groups "Woke Up This Morning" at the start of episodes of the television series The Sopranos. The odd combination of gutbucket rhythms, gospel harmonies, electronic bleeps, and Robb Spraggs gravely voice intoning, "Woke up this morning with a blue moon in your eye," as the camera records a passenger-seat view of a car emerging from the Lincoln Tunnel and making its way through the industrial wasteland of northern New Jersey is now an indelible TV experience. But Sopranos fans might be surprised to know that the song is the work of an odd musical collective from the Brixton district of London who sport such pseudonyms as the Empiricist (guitarist Mark Sams) and The Spirit (keyboard player Orlando Harrison). Its no wonder that placing them is difficult. They seem to have spent most of their time absorbing media depictions of America, minus any cultural context, and then mixing these undigested references up with dance music. Though the beats rarely flag on the groups second album, La Peste, elements of folk, country, blues, and gospel come and go in incongruous profusion. Similarly, the lyrics, sung largely by Spragg (sorry, he also calls himself Larry Love), name-drop endlessly and even borrow phrases and titles from other songs -- "Mansion on the Hill" is also the title of a Hank Williams song, for example, and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlife" recycles Bob Dylans "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." The result is at best gimmicky and at worst pretentious. And speaking of pretentious, Charles Harrisons liner notes acknowledge the bands music to be "flagrantly inauthentic," then speculate whether "their American audience" realizes this and, if so, what they make of it. The answer, so far, is that A3s American audience is confined to Sopranos fans who dont have a clue who they are, anyway. Those fans are likely to enjoy La Peste, if they find out about it, since much of it sounds like "Woke Up This Morning," though they may well wonder what the band is on about. Thats a good question. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 18 Title: Zero Tolerance Released: 2001 Tracks: 11 Duration: 1:07:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Whores of Babylon (10:01) 2 Walking in My Sleep (04:10) 3 The Moon Has Lost the Sun (03:43) 4 You Dont Dance to Techno (03:52) 5 Me and the Devil (10:46) 6 Cocaine (06:10) 7 Hypo Full of Love (07:24) 8 Bulletproof (04:13) 9 Mansion on the Hill (04:53) 10 Rehabilitated (05:55) 11 Gods Unchanging Hand (06:05) |
 | Album: 4 of 18 Title: Live in Dublin Released: 2002 Tracks: 13 Duration: 1:00:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Intro (00:34) 2 Power in the Blood (03:30) 3 Woke Up This Morning (05:34) 4 Speed (03:50) 5 Goa (04:14) 6 Mao (06:56) 7 Old Purple Tin (04:38) 8 Rose (05:14) 9 2 Heads (01:10) 10 Rehab (04:25) 11 Flag (04:37) 12 Hypo Full of Love (07:23) 13 Twisted (Peace in the Valley) (08:03) |
 | Album: 5 of 18 Title: Power in the Blood Released: 2002-10-28 Tracks: 21 Duration: 1:15:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Two Heads (01:07) 2 Power in the Blood (04:47) 3 Reachin (04:09) 4 Woody Guthrie (04:17) 5 Year Zero (04:23) 6 The Devil Went Down to Ibiza (02:51) 7 Strobe Life (06:12) 8 R.E.H.A.B. (03:52) 9 The Moon Has Lost the Sun (03:46) 10 Let the Caged Bird Sing (02:32) 11 Yellow Rose (04:55) 12 Bullet Proof (03:55) 13 Badlands (00:47) 14 Lord Have Mercy (06:13) 15 Come on Home (01:20) 1 Woke Up This Morning (04:05) 2 Power in the Blood (02:31) 3 Disneyland Is Burning (03:00) 4 U Dont Dans 2 Tekno Anymore (03:46) 5 Year Zero (04:15) 6 Mansion on the Hill (03:06) |
 | Album: 6 of 18 Title: Last Train to Mashville, Volume 2 Released: 2002-10-28 Tracks: 11 Duration: 37:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Woke Up This Morning (04:02) 2 Too Sick to Pray (03:27) 3 Year Zero (04:13) 4 Mansion on the Hill (03:05) 5 Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (02:46) 6 U Dont Dans 2 Tekno (03:44) 7 Bullet Proof (02:54) 8 Let the Caged Bird Sing (02:31) 9 Disneyland Is Burning (02:57) 10 Woody Guthrie (03:52) 11 Peace in the Valley (03:56) |
 | Album: 7 of 18 Title: The Last Train to Mashville, Volume 1 Released: 2004-02-24 Tracks: 10 Duration: 35:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Fixin to Live (01:09) 2 Up Above My Head (04:27) 3 Shake a Tailfeather (03:46) 4 Reachin (03:18) 5 Strobe Life (03:21) 6 R.E.H.A.B. (03:56) 7 The Moon Has Lost the Sun (03:51) 8 Lord Have Mercy (03:02) 9 Power in the Blood (02:29) 10 Lets Go Back to Church (06:27) |
 | Album: 8 of 18 Title: Outlaw Remixes Released: 2005 Tracks: 11 Duration: 57:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Woke Up This Morning (50 Cent Edit) (01:04) 2 M.I.A. (remix) (08:01) 3 I Have Been Set Free (remix) (04:47) 4 Honey in the Rock (remix) (03:47) 5 Adrenaline (remix) (05:10) 6 How Can I Protect You (remix) (04:42) 7 Johnny Cash (Know His Name) (07:35) 8 Let It Slide (remix) (04:26) 9 Minesweeping (remix) (05:01) 10 Terra Firma (remix) (03:36) 11 The Wild Bunch (remix) (09:36) |
 | Album: 9 of 18 Title: Outlaw Released: 2005-05-23 Tracks: 12 Duration: 49:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Intro (00:53) 2 Last Train to Mashville (04:11) 3 Terra Firma Cowboy Blues (03:29) 4 Keep Your Shades On (04:46) 5 Hello... Im Johnny Cash (04:00) 6 Up Above My Head (03:57) 7 Adrenaline (04:23) 8 Have You Seen Bruce Richard Reynolds? (04:43) 9 Honey in the Rock (04:08) 10 How Can I Protect You (04:09) 11 Let It Slide (05:13) 12 The Gospel Train (05:20) |
 | Album: 10 of 18 Title: M.O.R. Released: 2007-09-10 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:02:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Check In (01:21) 2 Fly (03:49) 3 Lockdown (04:12) 4 Monday Dont Mean Anything (04:08) 5 Amos Moses (04:50) 6 Are You a Souljah (06:07) 7 The Klan (05:11) 8 Hooked (04:43) 9 The Doghouse Chronicles (02:09) 10 The Middle of the Road (03:32) 11 Work It (All Night long) (03:23) 12 Way Beyond the Blues (04:18) 13 Holy Blood (05:10) 14 Sweet Joy (09:55) |
 | Album: 11 of 18 Title: Hits and Exit Wounds Released: 2008-04 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:18:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Hypo Full of Love (The 12 Step Plan) (05:34) 2 Woke Up This Morning (Sopranos mix) (04:03) 3 Hello... Im Johnny Cash (03:47) 4 Mao Tse Tung Said (04:54) 5 Mansion on the Hill (Arthur Baker remix) (05:45) 6 U Dont Danse to Tekno Anymore (03:41) 7 How Can I Protect You (Dope mix) (05:13) 8 Woody Guthrie (04:15) 9 Aint Goin to Goa (03:48) 10 Monday Dont Mean Anything (04:00) 11 Sad Eyed Lady of the Low Life (04:16) 12 Amos Moses (04:50) 13 Too Sick to Pray (04:26) 14 Up Above My Head (03:57) 15 R.E.H.A.B. (03:45) 16 Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (04:31) 17 Skad for Life (Orbital mix) (04:10) 18 Peace in the Valley (03:53) |
 | Album: 12 of 18 Title: Analogue on the Delta Released: 2009 Tracks: 9 Duration: 1:04:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Hypo Full of Love (06:50) 2 Mao Tse Tung Said (09:04) 3 Woke Up This Morning (09:19) 4 Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (09:09) 5 Aint Goin to Goa (07:23) 6 Sister Rosetta (04:31) 7 You Dont Dance to Techno (04:50) 8 Night We Nearly Got Busted (05:02) 9 Converted (08:26) |
 | Album: 13 of 18 Title: Revolver Soul Released: 2010-05-03 Tracks: 14 Duration: 46:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 (Intro) Oh Christ (03:35) 2 Bad to the Bone (03:15) 3 She Blessed Me (03:37) 4 Jacqueline (03:12) 5 Fix It (04:32) 6 Bad Girl (04:06) 7 If I Had A Diamond Ring (00:36) 8 Hostage (03:47) 9 Keep Your Powder Dry (03:22) 10 Come Ye Believers (00:56) 11 Vietnamistan (04:43) 12 All Gods Children (03:37) 13 Revolver Soul (05:46) 14 (Outro) Oh Christ (01:37) |
 | Album: 14 of 18 Title: There Will Be Peace in the Valley… When We Get the Keys to the Mansion on the Hill Released: 2011-02-24 Tracks: 13 Duration: 41:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Intro (00:33) 2 Love Will Tear Us Apart (03:37) 3 Mule Skinner Blues (04:38) 4 The Operator (04:45) 5 Horse (03:25) 6 The Ballad of Mr. Daniels (02:40) 7 Miss Martell (03:22) 8 Sugar Man’s Blues (02:44) 9 Rush (03:25) 10 Barricade (1789–1968–2011) (04:02) 11 A Wing and a Prayer (03:31) 12 That’s the Way Love Is (04:05) 13 [unknown] (00:38) |
 | Album: 15 of 18 Title: Shoplifting 4 Jesus Released: 2011-11-07 Tracks: 14 Duration: 53:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Have You Been Having A Nightmare (03:06) 2 I Blame Kurt Cobain (03:06) 3 We Stole The Moon (03:33) 4 Its About That Time (03:48) 5 Star Intro (00:52) 6 Seeing Stars (Aint Seen The Light) (03:08) 7 Wrong Is Right (04:18) 8 Saved (04:30) 9 Facebook.com (03:31) 10 Black Dog (03:33) 11 Summer In The City (04:28) 12 Who The Fuck Is John Sinclair (04:30) 13 Lets Go Out (07:27) 14 Abide With Me (03:34) |
 | Album: 16 of 18 Title: The Men from W.O.M.B.L.E. Released: 2013-12 Tracks: 12 Duration: 46:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 W.O.M.B.L.E. / This Is How We Build It (04:00) 2 Home Is Where the Heartache Is (02:58) 3 Count Your Blessings (I Lost It All) (04:25) 4 How 2 Swing, Part 3 (03:42) 5 The Presence of the Lord (04:07) 6 Sugarman (Can You Lick It?) (03:33) 7 Reach Out (03:20) 8 I Am a Deterrent (2nite 2nite) (04:02) 9 When the Whistle Blows (03:54) 10 Following Rainbows (03:42) 11 Rise Like Lions (03:36) 12 Sick and Perverted (Converted) (05:22) |
 | Album: 17 of 18 Title: The Wimmin From W.O.M.B.L.E Released: 2014-11-03 Tracks: 12 Duration: 48:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Bam Ba Lam (Here Comes Daddy) (04:15) 2 If I Should Die Tonight (04:00) 3 Soon Come (04:17) 4 Burning From The Inside (03:00) 5 The Devil Went Down To Ibiza (05:44) 6 The Ballad of the Gravediggers Daughter (02:50) 7 Dont Dig Any Deeper Darling (04:11) 8 You Are The One (04:08) 9 You Cant Hold Me Down (03:51) 10 Switchblade Stilettos (04:11) 11 Following Rainbows (Radio Edit) (02:26) 12 The Ballad of the Great Train Robbers Wife (05:38) |
 | Album: 18 of 18 Title: Blues Released: 2017 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 (Ill Never Be) Satisfied (02:36) 2 Exodus (Movement of War People) (05:43) 3 Rattlesnake Woman (03:40) 4 Nothing to Lose but Your Chains (04:29) 5 Forever in Blues (04:55) 6 Vigilante Man (04:13) 7 Lost and Found (03:58) 8 Jonestown Blues (04:07) 9 Rising Tide (04:27) 10 Turn the Jukebox On (04:40) |