Amazon.com
The album that named a movement (and a magazine), No Depression rocks and twangs in just about equal measure, though the rock side wins out most of the time. Even when a song downshifts from full-on punk to banjo- and mandolin-graced interludes, it usually shifts back again, seemingly louder and angrier than before. Beyond the influential sound, though, are some great songs, whether they're raging originals like "Graveyard Shift," an earnest, acoustic cover of the Carter Family's title track, or a decidedly desperate portrait of Leadbelly's "John Hardy." Six bonus cuts flesh out the 2003 expanded and remastered edition, including a cover of Gram Parsons's "Sin City." --David Cantwell

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 13 reviews)

One of the Greatest Albums of All Time by Clembert (Los Angeles, CA United States)

5 Stars
July 03, 2009
Not enough positive stuff can be said about this album. It is a classic...American to the core, but creative and interesting too. Really makes you want to quit your job and learn to play the banjo or something.

A great debut from a band that broke up before reaching its prime by J. Polsgrove (Baja Arizona)

5 Stars
March 05, 2009
This album sort of launched the Americana revival. Named for a song by the Carter Family, Uncle Tupelo tapped into some basic roots music in a time when over-produced junk ruled the airwaves, and they were a breath of fresh air. One of the great "what ifs" of music is what would have happened to Uncle Tupelo if Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedey hadn't parted ways. Farrar's career has been less than successful that Tweedey and Wilco, but he had a dark, depressing side that in a way balanced Tweedey kine of like Lennon did with McCartney. Hey, if Gary Louris and Mark Olson can get back together and try and recapture (not very successfully, sadly) the magic of the Jayhawks, perhaps someday we'll see a Tweedey-Farrar collaboration. For now, we have Uncle Tupelo's four releases (plus the "best of" with a great cover of CCR's "Effigy" on it), all remastered and with bonus tracks. In all honesty, the bonus tracks don't add much to the originals, but what's here in original format is more than enough warrant buying this CD. My favorite remains "Still Feel Gone," although "March 1992" is mightly fine. This debut is eminently listenable and gives you a hint of the great stuff to come from Uncle Tupelo, Farrar, and Tweedy.

The Album that Kicked Off The Movement by Untitled (nowhere)

4 Stars
January 26, 2009
Man, nothing like Uncle Tupelo to satisfy my fix for country music. Some of this alternative country music (Son Volt is another one) has done wonders for me, giving me a good, new approach to country, and feels like country, not just pop music with a faux country image or bland pop guitars with an irrating southern accent. Well, this is something that you should hear, especially if you are country freak. You just might find a gold mine. While Uncle Tupelo's debut album may not be anything more than good, I'll be damned if there is nothing else that satisfies like this album. Uncle Tupelo blends southern rock, punk rock (!!!), folk music, and rugged, real country music into one addicting record. Perhaps more importantly, it shows the early talents of Jay Farrar (Son Volt, which fleshes out more melancholy and country tendencies) and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco, that went in millions of directions). Both get parts on this record, backed up with the explosive drumming of Mike Heirdon and besides a standard rock set up, there's fiddles, harmonicas, banjo, acoustic guitars, pianos, and a "rice can". The lyrics vary from the two song writers. The topics aren't exactly something gush over, but the two paint a very realistic picture of their topics, especially evident on their topic of an alcoholic. On tracks like Graveyard Shift, Before I Break, Train, Factory Belt, and Outdone, the band plays this very explosive, raunchy country rock. What's remarkable is how damn evident the country sound is. On top of that, it sounds rustic and highway bound, like country music should, instead of studio and arena bound. The ballads and slow songs are authentic country. No Depression is fantastic, it's one that I fell in love with. Whiskey Bottle has lyrics that I doubt Jay Farrar has never experienced, however, I find that he does an excellent job writing from that point of view. They really do mix their influences, with the swingy John hardy being an example of their raw rock music with a country influence. Another example would be That Year, which goes from Green Day like cowpunk to fledging bluegrass rock. This album sounds fantastic remastered. While the bonus tracks aren't top notch alltogether, a lot of the songs on them are actually good! Personally, the demo track is extremely good. It's quite amazing how good it sounds since it sounds like it's recorded in a basement on an 8-track. No Depression is one of my favorite songs on the album, and another, totally different cut is great. The live version of Whiskey Bottle isn't as good as the original, but it's mellow and does a great job as the acoustic piece it is suppose to be, and the harmonica is played instead of the electric instruments. Sin City is a cover of an old school country song, and it's acoustic like Whiskey Bottle. Won't Forget, for some reason, is a great garage rocker, while Left in The Dark is disposable. Sure, the main disc is the main attraction, but the bonus tracks are fun to listen to. Wanna see where Tweedy and Farrar started out? Buy this album. Sick of today's country crap but want to see what the new musical styles have done for country music? Buy this album. Want good music? Buy this album. SHould you buy this album because it's damn good music? Yes, so buy this album already! 7.5/10

Alternative country comes alive... by Brian E. Burgess (NY, USA)

5 Stars
December 20, 2004
A friend of mine actually gave me a copy of No Depression on tape shortly after this release came out and told me I had to check this new band out. For some reason it sat at the bottom of my tape collection for well over a year. I finally rediscovered the tape one day and realized it was time to check out the band with the unique name. Man, had I missed out on some seriously good music! There is a nice mix of punk and country on many of the songs on this cd. Songs such as "Graveyard Shift" and "Factory Belt" are quick paced, high-flying country/punk tunes but the song that blew me away (and still does to this day) is the old school country drinking song "Whiskey Bottle". Everytime I hear this song it just sends shivers up my spine as you can feel the pain and heartache in Jay Farrar's voice. Some great bonus tracks on the remastered version including a great version of Gram Parson's "Sin City" and an informative booklet just add to the original beauty of this release. Tupelo move forward into a more traditional country sound after this cd but "No Depression" is a groundbreaking effort.

Oh My, yes indeed! by Frank Garon (Breinigsville, PA United States)

5 Stars
August 09, 2004
Now this, THIS is my kind of music. Punk meets Country, with Rock sprinkled all over for good measure! From the opening note of "Graveyard Shift" to the close of "Blues Die Hard, there's 19 tracks of pure great music to be had here. This stuff is potent - what creativity, what diversity, what a great sound these guys put out. Makes me mad I didn't discover them sooner, because Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt are two of the best groups I've been lucky enough to come across in the past year or two. Really and truly well worth buying this one is, you will be very glad you did!

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	Still Feel Gone by Uncle Tupelo Before March 16-20, 1992 secured Uncle Tupelo's place as Commanders in Chief of the alt-country assault during the early '90s, Still Feel Gone stated emphatically that they were no musical tumbleweeds. Though twangy, lap-steel-heavy ditties like "Watch Me Fall" and "Still Be Around" cradle a country heart, the bulk of this disc is a nod to Uncle Tupelo's garage- and punk-rock heritage. The songs find their hooks in the twittery vocals of Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, but beware the rapid-fire...
	March 16-20, 1992 by Uncle Tupelo After ripping it up on No Depression and Still Feel Gone, their first two albums of twangy punk rock, Uncle Tupelo unplugged for this remarkable tribute--half originals, half political and religious covers--to the band's old-time influences. While the new songs of frontmen Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy are consistently strong here (especially Farrar's "Grindstone"), the album's haunted covers of old folk songs are the true keepers. Tweedy's apocalyptic version of "Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come...
	Anodyne by Uncle Tupelo Expanded & remastered reissue of 1993 album includes five bonus tracks, 'Stay True' (prev. unissued), 'Wherever' (prev. unissued), 'Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?' (prev. unissued), 'Truck Drivin' Man' (live), & 'Suzy Q' (live). Digipak. Sire/Rhino. 2003.
	Trace by Son Volt Trace is obsessed with time. "Can you deny there's nothing greater ... than the traveling hands of time?" asks frontman Jay Farrar early on, and song to song, he deliberates time's tyranny. Farrar's voice always sounds beaten but never quite broken here, and when on the impossibly catchy "Windfall" he wishes "may the wind take your troubles away," it feels like nothing short of a blessing. Trace is alternative country's most perfect moment: the Uncle Tupelo-ish electric crunch rocks for...
	Straightaways by Son Volt When Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar, his former partner in Uncle Tupelo, split up in 1994, the common wisdom was that Tweedy was the melodic and optimistic Paul McCartney of the team, while Farrar was the cathartic and moody John Lennon. That analogy seemed to stand up when Wilco's debut disc A.M. was sweet and tuneful, while the first album by Farrar's Son Volt, Trace, was angst-ridden country-rock. Tweedy transcended his pigeonhole with the diverse, ambitious Being There, but Farrar remains...