guitartist
July 16th, 2007, 05:42 AM
I bought Hank Williams III's cd "Straight to Hell" this weekend ....whoa, this cd is INTENSE!
It's hard-core s#*t-kicking redneck country music with a punk edge...and there's some really nice guitar playing on it (Johnny Hiland plays on several tracks). The musicianship throughout is excellent, great songs and great production (at least on disc one, its a 2 disc set).
I'm not sure if I can get away with playing this much at work, there's some strong language in a lot of the lyrics. If you're easily offended, this cd is not for you. Most of the songs are about drinking, drugs, and how much modern pop country music sucks...and Hank III doesn't hold anything back! Nosiree! He seems to be a dark and disturbed guy, you get the feeling if he didn't have music as an outlet he might get himself into some serious trouble.
Disc two has some great stuff on it as well...but its mixed in with a bunch of filler (IMO). The filler is stuff like songs slowed waaaaay down, recordings of trains going by, gunshots, horses galloping, etc...and mixed in with this stuff are what sound like demos Hank III did, just him singing and playing acoustic. And GOOD LORD does he sound JUST LIKE his granddad in these recordings! Its enough to make ya believe in reincarnation, I tell ya! I think Hank III knows that these recordings are his best stuff, so he put all this filler on the disc to make you have to "work" to listen to them (the track listing on Disc two is just for one long "Song", so you can't skip tracks to the next part). Its aggravating to have to sit through a bunch of noise to wait for the good stuff, but its worth it. These demos are amazing, totally raw and pure.
I'm a huge fan of Hank Williams Sr. but never have cared for the music of HW Jr. - but Hank III's the real deal. If you're into hardcore country and like music with an edge then do yourself a favor and check this stuff out.
It's hard-core s#*t-kicking redneck country music with a punk edge...and there's some really nice guitar playing on it (Johnny Hiland plays on several tracks). The musicianship throughout is excellent, great songs and great production (at least on disc one, its a 2 disc set).
I'm not sure if I can get away with playing this much at work, there's some strong language in a lot of the lyrics. If you're easily offended, this cd is not for you. Most of the songs are about drinking, drugs, and how much modern pop country music sucks...and Hank III doesn't hold anything back! Nosiree! He seems to be a dark and disturbed guy, you get the feeling if he didn't have music as an outlet he might get himself into some serious trouble.
Disc two has some great stuff on it as well...but its mixed in with a bunch of filler (IMO). The filler is stuff like songs slowed waaaaay down, recordings of trains going by, gunshots, horses galloping, etc...and mixed in with this stuff are what sound like demos Hank III did, just him singing and playing acoustic. And GOOD LORD does he sound JUST LIKE his granddad in these recordings! Its enough to make ya believe in reincarnation, I tell ya! I think Hank III knows that these recordings are his best stuff, so he put all this filler on the disc to make you have to "work" to listen to them (the track listing on Disc two is just for one long "Song", so you can't skip tracks to the next part). Its aggravating to have to sit through a bunch of noise to wait for the good stuff, but its worth it. These demos are amazing, totally raw and pure.
I'm a huge fan of Hank Williams Sr. but never have cared for the music of HW Jr. - but Hank III's the real deal. If you're into hardcore country and like music with an edge then do yourself a favor and check this stuff out.