Alabama 3 Hits And Exit Wounds CD

Definitive 2008 retrospective released in celebration of a long, esteemed and wholly unique career that has seen The Guardian dub them 'the best live band in Britain'. Featuring material from throughout their years together, Hits and Exit Wounds contains previously unreleased material including 'SKA'D For Life' from the film SW9 (a collaboration with the legendary Orbital) and 'Mansion on The Hill' re-mixed by Arthur Baker. The album also includes a re-mix of 'How Can I Protect You' from the 2008 film Borstal Productions. 17 tracks. One Little Indian.

Photographer: William Corbett.
Perhaps best known in America for providing the soundtrack to the opening credits of THE SOPRANOS, Alabama 3 have been churning out their strange hybrid of canned Americana mashed with contemporary dance for over a decade. HITS AND EXIT WOUNDS is their first retrospective, and it succeeds in providing a concise and inclusive collection of their output, as well as being a fitting introduction to the band. Brits masquerading as simple Southern folk is nothing new, but the tenuous marriage of style they exploit in different ways in their songs is novel. Ultimately, most of the tracks avoid kitsch in either their inventive production or the odd inclusion of leftist and/or Situationist rhetoric.
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. ~ Richie Unterberger

Q (Magazine) (p.154) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[W]ryly titled, satirical affairs such as 'Sad Eyed Lady Of The Low Life,' are imbued with a narcotic potency."
Record Collector (magazine) (p.82) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "The group's socially responsible side matures throughout: alongside the acid house grooves and real love for gospel and blues there remains a constant rooting for the underdog."