After five years of playing anyplace that would have them and cutting three albums they released themselves, the finally made a breakthrough in 2001 with , a two-disc concept album about "the Duality of the Southern Thing" and the life and (literal) death of a band not unlike . The album's unanimously positive reviews and impressive indie sales led to the 's scoring a deal with , 's roots music imprint, which reissued and signed on to release the follow-up. had already distributed promo copies of 2003's when they chose not to release it after all, and the band scrambled to find a new home, with rushing the album out three months after 's original release date came and went. The following year, the 's turned in their next studio effort, a projected double set called , but balked, insisting the band trim it down to a single CD, and perhaps weary of music biz drama, they acquiesced and cut three songs from the set list. The edited version was a commercial and critical success, with many fans and critics citing it as their best album, but the band never forgot how the album was supposed to be, and in 2023, the and partnered to release . The "Director's Cut" edition restored the intended sequence with the addition of the songs "TVA," "The Great Car Dealer Wars," and "Goode's Field Road" (they re-cut the latter for 2008's ), while group leader revised his lyrics and recut his vocals for "Puttin' People on the Moon" and "The Sands of Iwo Jima." Trying to improve an album that was already a standout in a band's catalog is a calculated risk, and isn't radically superior to the album they put out in 2004. That said, the expanded release does have a smoother narrative flow, the unheard tracks are certainly up to the standards of the rest of the set, especially 's powerful "TVA" (though the version of "Goode's Field Road" cuts a stronger groove), and the remastering makes a real difference, giving the material a stronger and bolder sound that flatters the band's three-guitar attack. Nearly 20 years after it was released, these stories of people struggling with the weight of the past and the burdens of the present day haven't dated a bit; in fact, they feel even more timely in the 2020s. Anyone who enjoyed as it appeared in 2004 will find rewarding, and those who haven't heard it owe it to themselves to hear it in uncompromised form. ~ Mark Deming