Reviews

Despite extremely awesome cover art, First You Live, the debut of Dusty Rhodes and the River Band can be more confusing at times than entertaining. They are a musical anomaly, which, in itself, may attract some. The band melds southern folk/country and progressive rock, but the results are too varied to really get a grasp of what the band is all about.

Sure, just about every tune on this album has a catchy vibe, but the vocals of "First You Live" sound like they could be a parody of Tom Petty, and later in "Dear Honey," we get an accordion waltz with a saloon rock chorus. The constant changes make it hard to just enjoy, but almost impossible to forget.

This is an Orange County-based band writing songs about the South, after all. The songwriting is constantly interesting, albeit strange. The lyrics seem silly both when the band seems to be going for that vibe and when it does not. But it generally has a light and fun tone. There is even a Billy Joel-esque piano intro in "Strike."

The album can best be described not as good nor bad, but rather interesting and oftentimes baffling. Definitely something everyone should hear, but whether it's worth listening to three months from now is really up to the listener.