Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Weathervanes (June 9, 2023) Album • Page 5

Any consensus on what his must-listen/best album (or albums) is? I’ve always been familiar but done a deeper dive thanks to the talk in this thread — listened to a compilation with some of his most well-regarded songs and also sampled the newest one which sounds really good. But I’m definitely excited to sit down with some of his albums start to finish.

Also I mean the guy’s dad wrote my favorite novel of all time so I don’t know how I haven’t immersed myself in his music before now.

 

the most recent one and saint mary of the woods

 

Anything between Saint Mary of the Woods and Horses and the Hounds are all great. My personal favorite is probably Childish Things.

 

Childish Things was my entry point for him but I think Horses is his best

 

I think this might be the year my wife and I finally do the damn thing. Her parents live 1:15 outside of Nashville too so free childcare lfg

 

I wanna see Jason at the Ryman on Oct 19th and then go see him in Killers of the Flower Moon the next night when it comes out, willing this into existence

 

The last James McMurty album from two summers ago was fantastic. Not many folks writing songs like “Ft. Walton Wake-Up Call”.

 

yeah canola fields off that one is a perfect hook

 

You can’t be young and do that

 

I don't usually shuffle discographies but I'm doing the "This is Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit" playlist on Spotify and it's killer. Found this live EP too which is really good.

 

god, that documentary was intense. definitely recommend this new podcast interview where he talks about it, as well as guitar playing and the Muscle Shoals sound.

Wong Notes - Premier Guitar

 

I threw on the Self-Titled album from 2009 the other day after realizing I hadn't listened to it in a long time, and I think I had sorta forgotten how great it is. I think I prefer the original mix from 2009 as opposed to the remix / remaster, and I absolutely prefer the original tracklist for the songs. The new version makes it sound too much like his more recent, Dave Cobb produced albums, which I'm guessing was kinda what they were going for, but I like that his earlier albums had a different sound and feel.

 

Yeah this is a pretty consistent gripe of mine. The Dave Cobb mix (the new one) is not good at all and I really hate the new track list. The mix is only a big deal to me on a few songs but where it sucks (“Good” comes to mind) it’s so so bad. Unfortunately, my vinyl copy is the new mix as well. Been meaning to replace it for a bit.

 

Yeah, I can't recall which specific tracks, but I remember thinking there were maybe one or two where I would say they sound as good as the original mix, only different, but for the majority of the songs and the album overall they lessen the impact and weaken it for me. I can't for the life of me understand what they were thinking with the tracklist change though. Woof.

 

I don't think I ever actually listened to the Here We Rest remaster. What did they do to the tracklist?

I have the original pressing of that one. I do have the remaster of self-titled, though, and I do not like what Cobb did to it. In particular, I think "The Last Song I Will Write" loses a lot. I think Cobb took out a few of the guitar tracks, so the big build of the song is just way less effective.

 

I don't think they made any tracklist changes on the Here We Rest reissue. I do remember some contradictory info around the time of release with some places saying there was a 13-track version, but I think all of the versions of the new mix had the original 11-song tracklist.

 

Yeah they didn’t touch the track list on Here We Rest and the remix is light enough that it doesn’t bother me a ton

 

I haven’t heard anything pre-Southeastern (minus a few spare songs).

 

Honestly, you're seriously missing out. I love all of his albums.

 

Dude!

None of those albums are as good as what he made after (IMO), but Here We Rest is a near-masterpiece, and some of his best songs ever are on Sirens in the Ditch and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Totally worth going back and delving in before the new album comes out.

 

The first five songs on Here We Rest are maybe the best five song stretch on any of his albums. I know that’s a bold statement but it’s so good.

That was also the album that made me buy in on his solo stuff though, got it in December 2011 and within a month he’d become one of my favorite artists. Knew his DBT songs before that but had written his solo work off

 

And yeah echoing what Craig and others have said, the best songs on his first two stand up next to the best songs on his later records. Chicago Promenade, Dress Blues, The Magician, Cigarettes & Wine, Streetlights, Last Song I Will Write, Seven Mile Island…

 

Another amazing song out, but super jarring hearing kind of overproduced vocals on the chorus?

 

I need at least one other person to acknowledge this song’s existence