THE Legacy Edition status of a reissued album sometimes can be overstated, but not in this case. Uncle Tupelo’s 1990 debut now comes as a deluxe two-disc set with remastered demos, cover versions, more demos from a self-released cassette and odds-and-sods rarities.
Put them together and you have the milestone recordings that heralded the rise of Alt.Country, in essence a union of traditional folk and country, ground-breaking post-punk, instinctive harmonies and hardcore, distorted guitar intensity. Jay Farrar, guitar and vocals, and Jeff Tweedy, bass and vocals, emerged from the indie underground in 1987 with drummer Mike Heidorn in Belleville, Illinois, going on to record No Depression over ten wintry days in Boston in January 1990, and what still stands out is both their fire and canny ear for a rough-hewn tune.
Farrar and Heidorn would later sweeten the pill in Son Volt; Tweedy continues to cut out new Americana ground in Wilco. No Depression began it all, in songs of factory life, drinking and the graveyard shift, far from the American dream.
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