Sounds great. Thanks for posting. Will be picking this up for sure on it's release date.

Jason Isbell just seems to be getting better and better. Southeastern is tuff record to top but I like the more full band sound of this record.

Thanks, giving it a listen now

As a big Jason Isbell fan, I wasn't blown away by the new single, "24 Frames." It's good, but normally he floors me with that first album tease (think Razor Town, Seven Mile Island, Alabama Pines or Stockholm from his first 4 solo records).

That said, I was going to wait until Kim & I could listen together, but I couldn't help myself & streamed the opening track "If It Takes a Lifetime." Whoa! It's my new "song of the year" nomination after just one listen.

Just wish "& The 400 Unit" was credited as artist, too. Jason has a formidable & loyal band, including the world class guitarist Sadler Vaden, that sound great, but are no longer a part of the billing (record co doing I'm sure). Shame....

OK - I've listened to it a couple times plus a few tracks an extra 1 or 2 times (either stuido or live youtube version).

Good record. Starts really strong with If It Takes a Lifetime (with obvious nod to Joe South's Games People Play vocal melody in the verses). It's a meaty country track that's just great and a little different than anything he's done. Alright, good start!

From there it just doesn't grab me the same way his other albums have. 24 Frames seems too obvious.

Throughout the record there is a serious missing opportunity for some guitar work in pockets. Even the title track is screaming for a tasteful but ripping solo by Sadler Vaden (world class guitarist hardly noticed on the record). Children of Children has a cool Eagles Outlaw Man/Doolin' Dalton or Neil Young vibe to it and is a highlight. We get some decent jamming out the back end.

Some songs go in an airy 70s songwriter vibe which I appreciate....the melodies on those just aren't what Jason's accomplished in the past.

There are 1 or 2 others that seem like Southeastern leftovers. And a leftover from that record is still be a strong track: Speed Trap Town is a poor man's Cover Me Up....but still good...Hudson Commodore is New South Wales with some great Eagles type harmonies and could use some killer picking to it for another 45-60 seconds at the end but alas a great opportunity is missed.

Palmetto Rose has a big power chorus and a second chorus type bridge but the melody in the verses aren't his best work. Another great solo opportunity is terribly missed as the song just ends. And I'm not talking about turning this into a noddling jam band album.

To The Band I Loved suffers from the opposite. Great melody that turns into airy adult contemporary in the chorus.

In the end I like a little more Petty & The Heartbreakers type grit with my Isbell and he is flanked by some guys who can and have delivered it in spades over the years on record and live. Some more of that on this record would have been very welcome. Without that I can see why the record is not credited to Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit.

Some of these will be great additions to his live setlists provided he doesn't play the same 7-8 for the next 2 years. He has way to many great songs like Magician, Soldiers Get Strange, The Last Song I Will Write, Go It Alone, Dress Blues, Razor Town and plenty others that shouldn't be just forgotten.

I'll continue seeing him but less than I would if he's ignoring a could bit of that catalog.

I may be being too hard on this record and maybe it will grow on me. It is solid but I might for now rank it below is other four.

Thanks for your views, Tim. I look forward to buying it Friday morning. It will be tough to come close to, match, or even top "Southeastern," in my opinion.

Any suggestions on where to start as far as his earlier work goes ? I got into Jason Isbell via Southeastern. I get the same feeling I get from Blood on the Tracks after listening to it. Just brilliant work that took a while to grow on me. Really liking the stream of the new record and will down load it on first day it's out. Live in Alabama sounds good on Spotify and seems like a good intro to his earlier post Truckers work.

tommars; pick up The Dirty South by DBT.....it has some of Isbell's best stuff on it. Goddamn Lonely Love, Never Gonna Change, The Day John Henry Died and Danko/Manuel are all gems and he still does most of them live.

After worshiping "Southeastern," I've listened to "Something More Than Free" in full every day since its release. And it doesn't do very much for me, I'm sorry--and surprised--to say.

To me, the album doesn't catch fire until tracks 5 through 8, and even then there are parts of those songs that I don't care for as much.

For instance, yes, we finally (finally!) get some guitar and band stretching out at the end of "Children of Children," but, wow, whoever selected that snare drum sound for that closing jam...just didn't find a tone/sound that I think is appealing.

And as much as I like the verse and chorus of "The Life You Choose," I can't stand the bridge.

Another production choice issue for me: I wish I could "feel" a little more bass.

I did not import two songs into my iPod/iTunes library: "How to Forget" and "To a Band That I Loved." Those are just my personal choices.

So, after "Southeastern," which is a "deserted-island disc" for me, I admit I'm a little let down by this new record. But, to paraphrase the "A Bad Day Fishing is Better Than a Good Day at Work" bumpersticker, average (to me) Jason Isbell is still a whole lot better than most other artists these days...

Just my opinions.

😉

[Edited on 7/20/2015 by EasyMichael]