Hits and Exit Wounds

Album Review

This 18-track, career-spanning retrospective collects material from the albums issued by Alabama 3 prior to its 2008 release, as well as some previously unissued cuts. The press for Alabama 3 (or A3, as they're billed in the U.S. for legal reasons) might overstate their use of roots music, as this is more rap, hip-hop, and house in its beats and vocal delivery than anything else. Still, you will hear some more traditional American forms of music in the mix, sometimes prominently so, as in "Hello...I'm Johnny Cash" and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Low Life." The song title of the latter tune also clues you in that Alabama 3 have a rather sardonic, wry take on things. The effect is sometimes like hearing Dr. John after he's made the decision to go either alt country or techno, without being able to make up his mind in either direction. While Alabama 3/A3 haven't had much of the way in actual "hits" in the U.S., Hits and Exit Wounds does include the one song they're most known for Stateside, "Woke Up This Morning," used as a theme for television's The Sopranos.