Track Listing

1. Converted
2. Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
3. Woke Up This Morning
4. U Don't Dance 2 Tekno Anymore
5. Bourgeoisie Blues
6. Aint's Goin' To Goa
7. Mao Tse Tung Said
8. Hypo Full of Love (The 12 Step Plan)
9. The Old Purple Tin (9% Of Pure Heaven)
10. Teh Night We Nearly got Busted
11. Sister Rosetta
12. Peace In The Valley

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16478 in Music
• Released on: 2005-10-17
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
They're not from Alabama, and there's many, many more than three of them. In fact, Exile On Coldharbour Lane is the product of a warped gang of Scottish DJs, reformed junkies and sideshow entertainers. Don't be cynical, though--they've had a calling; the Alabama 3 gospel embraces Deep Southern Christian fundamentalism, revolutionary Marxism, serious drug abuse and the loved-up embrace of acid house music. Exile On Coldharbour Lane, however artificial, is a thoroughly enjoyable cabaret record. With titles like "Bourgeoisie Blues", "Mao Tse Tung Said" and let's not forget "Hypo Full Of Love (The 12 Step Plan)", Alabama 3 have created a peculiar fusion of country, techno, and hip-hop, and somehow made it funny. There's even time to fit in "Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness"--a traditional American folk number, performed with po-faced aplomb. You'll consider converting. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Best live band in the country!!!
Alabama 3 are, in the words of The Guardian newspaper', 'the best live band in the country'. This album has most of their singalong crowd favourites, including 'Woke up this morning' of Sopranos theme tune fame - buy it now and be converted.

The last step in a long journey? Perhaps.
This cd was first encountered on the jukebox of my favourite watering hole in Edinburgh,thanks to the then manager "Barnacle Bill" who was an early convert, sometime in '97 and the funky,swampy,dancy groove has been with me ever since.We played it to death and back again spending a fortune in the process and then i got round to buying my own copy and proceeded to do the same at home!Such genuine originality is indeed very rare these days and i must agree with other reviewers who comment on the paucity of real talent in popular music these days and the formulaic persuit of a tawdry buck.

That the A3 have achieved some measure of recognition through association with The Sopranos is a good thing but it is by no means everything they should be due.It is the sheer eclecticism of their sound on this cd that is simply staggering. At times you have that almost swampy feel that you got from such 60's artist as Tony Joe White and his excellant Polk Salad Annie,with the tightness of such legendary performers
as Donald "Duck" Dunn and Steve Cropper.The backgound to the spoken intro of the very first song "Converted" illustrates this perfectly. This cd feels to me like the logical end point in the progression that began with that whole white soul sound that came out of Memphis and Muscle Shoals and featured the likes of such underrated and undersung artists as Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham and the already mentioned Tony Joe White. The accessability of the obviously techno (not a genre thats ever moved me by the way)influenced dance elements of this disc just embellish an already great sound to the point that without it it wouldnt be A3,and the acclaim they've justly garnered would be undeserving without it. As many have said before me here there are no weak tracks and i will only repeat whats already been said by higlighting the likes of "You Don't Dance To Techno" and "The Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness" which is an excellent cover of the John Prine original.

I'll just end by adding that again in agreement with some other reviewers La Peste whilst a good record in its own right had maybe too much to live up to after this masterpiece.Also i have not to my discredit yet seen them live so if they ever read this,more gigs in Edinburgh please!!

Moments of distilled beauty
I'm not exaggerating when I use the word beauty in connection with this album. It's quite possibly my favourite album, and even though it has a tongue-in-cheek sensibility about it, I take it seriously as a work of art and musical achievement. I played it on my 5.1 surround sound system for the first time the other night, and it opened up an entirely new level, the sound was almost divine. A3 have incredible ears for music and are clearly accomplished at all kinds of composition because these songs work so well on so many levels that you'd be forgiven for thinking they knew something the rest of us didn't.

There are no bad songs on this album, not even marginally weak ones. 'Converted' gets things started in terrific fashion, following on to the exceptional 'Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,' The Sopranos theme 'Woke up This Morning' (preceeded by an excellent skit-like bridge)and track after track of inspired sound and lyrics.

Another great asset to the CD is that you can play it low and just relax to it, or hike up the volume and turn your bedroom into a nightclub (especially with a surround sound sub woofer beating the crap out of the walls and floor!) Just try 'Mao Tse Tung Said' on this sort of a setup without repeating the track at least once. I defy you!

It's an album I couldn't tire with if I played it 24/7... If it's not magic at work here, it's something pretty close.

Love to the 3.