Disco de David Allan Coe: “Human Emotions/Spectrum VII”

The Human Emotions/ Spectrum 7 CD contains two distinct styles of records that David Allan Coe put out in '78 and '79 respectively. The Human Emotions record is steeped in brooding lyrics along with a few classic country rounds to take a just a bit of the edge off. The final track of this particular album, "Suicide", is perhaps one of the darkest and most violent songs DAC has ever written. Fueled by a rock n roll flavor it stands out as a coup de gras for the album, painting vivid imagery that is torn asunder with emotion. The various songs leading up to this final track build up to it quite well, recounting weaknesses in "Whiskey and Women" while blending smoothly into "Jack Daniels, If You Please". The "Tomorrow Is Another Day" track also gives an "island" taste of what is to follow in the Spectrum 7 part of the CD. Another noteworthy element of the Human Emotions part is that all of the songs are written by DAC, which almost invariably lend themselves to a far better sound when he sings them than those which he has not written.

The Spectrum 7 part of the CD is primarily composed of an "island" sound which is fresh and different but not quite as satisfying as the darker themed "outlaw" sound which comprises the majority of DAC's songs. The Human Emotions theme does bleed into the first part of Spectrum 7 with the tacks "Rollin With The Punches" and "On My Feet Again". "Rollin With The Punches" is easily the best track in Spectrum 7 with its sharp poetic lyrics. The "Seven Mile Bridge" track stands out as the best of the "island" themed songs with its mournful ballad style.

Bear Family Records has done another excellent job with this two fer CD by including a nice fat booklet that contains all of the lyrics to the songs along with the original album cover art and the insert photos from the Human Emotions album. If your like me and can't get enough of this outlaw's music, buy this CD, it will be an excellent addition to your other DAC CDs. For any new listeners out there, you might do better checking out Longhaired Redneck/ Rides Again (another two fer by Bear Family records) first as that CD contains the best of DAC's material.