The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is Nashville's best-kept secret. Had I not been a Dirt Band fan to begin with, I wouldn't have known this album existed, which is a shame. The Dirt Band blends tight harmonies and flawless musicianship with creative and humorous lyrics, with the best examples being the title track (what's a double watusi, anyway? ) and Ibby's "Monkey Song." "Dry Town" should not go unmentioned, as it is a perfect example of patented Dirt Band humor. Other favorites include "Nickel in the Well" (somebody tell me why I didn't hear that one on the radio) and "Singing to the Scarecrow." If you want a good, entertaining, pick-me-up CD, buy this one. I really enjoy it.

Before buying the CD of Bang Bang Bang a couple of years ago, I hadn't bought a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album in six years. This record was a long time in coming, but I think it's worth playing over and over.

The title song, in which Jimmy Ibbotson sings about the girl in the leopard skin body suit coming to pick the guy up for a night of dancing, is a bouncy, rocking, feel-good tune that's fun to listen to as well as dance to. Indeed, most of the songs are positive, uptempo songs. Besides "Bang Bang Bang", the highlights are "If This Ain't Love", which has some awesome steel guitar and sax playing; "Forget The Job(Get A Life)", NGDB's funny take on our workaholic culture; "Rent, Groceries And Gasoline", NGDB's celebration of the simple life(Chorus: "I'm a man of simple means/Just rent, groceries and gasoline"); the thumping, amusing "Dry Town", which prominently features Ibbotson's mandolin and Bob Carpenter's accordion; Ibbotson's upbeat "The Monkey Song", the only song on the record which was written by a Dirt Band member; and "Southbound Train", the concluding song, which features some bluesy harmonica playing by Jimmie Fadden. These are all fun, upbeat songs.

Bang Bang Bang isn't without its ballads, though. Jeff Hanna contributes his vocals to three excellent slow songs: "Singing To The Scarecrow", "Down The Road" and "It's About Time". All these songs are well-done, and Hanna's wife, songwriter Matraca Berg, helps him in the singing of "It's About Time".

All in all, I think this album is well-made and powerful. Bang Bang Bang is a delightful record by one of music's best and best-known groups.

This is a fun, lively, and shamelessly Twangy recording. The songs are catchy and energetic, and anything but mainstream radio-fare. If you are looking for a more polished and center-of-the-road sound from NGDB, it would be better to look elsehwhere. The songs Dry Town, Bang Bang Bang, and the Monkey song are so over the top you can't help but love them. This CD always makes me smile, and sticks with me all day when I hear it first thing in the morning.

I loved absolutely every song on the record. The whole thing is up-beat, feel good music, that is unique to the NGDB,every time.

I loved most of the cuts on the album, which is much more country-sounding album than their last (non-Christmas) effort, Acoustic. I notice that only one of the songs was written by a band member, The Monkey Song, by Ibby, again, unlike Acoustic where all but one of the songs was written by or collaborated on by one of the band. I especially loved "If This Ain't Love" and "Bang Bang Bang" for the uptempo beat, and found "Down the Road" and "Singing to the Scarecrow" very touching, along the same lines as "Dance Little Jean". "Dry Town" and "The Monkey Song" are a lot of fun. I missed having a cut or two featuring Bob Carpenter on lead vocals as most of their albums have. Overall, however, the Dirt Band has never sounded better and it was well worth the wait. Keep up the great Dirt!