Post by StevePulaski on May 24, 2011 19:56:17 GMT -5
Hank Williams III
Hillbilly Joker
★★★
Hank Williams III, the grandson of the country legend, has been misunderstood his whole career. He is only a very small portion like his grandfather and even more distant from his own father, Hank Williams Jr. After making an appearance on Three Hanks: Men With Broken Hearts in 1996 with his father and old song recordings of his grandfather, Curb Records immediately signed him thinking that he would bring more retro life in a genre already crushed with pop artists.
Curb didn't realize that III was of a different blood and wanted to release neotraditional country and some punk and metal albums to go with it. After releasing his debut in 1999, Risin' Outlaw, Hank reported he was very unsatisfied with the final product releasing Lovesick, Broke, and Driftin' a few years later saying it was "his official debut." He went on to release more albums, including his best Straight to Hell that included a mix of country songs with an occasional punk or two.
III has his own punk band called Assjack that he takes along on his tours. After much trouble, III got them to release the band's debut album called Assjack in 2009 with him doing all the instruments and vocals.
In 2003, Hank wanted to release his punk/metal album called This Ain't Country. It combined very hardcore punk music and heavy metal to bring to life a side of Hank no one had really seen at that point. Curb refused to release it because they didn't realize that Hank had no interest of playing the music his grandfather did. Curb wanted him to clean up his act and sport a calmer image. Needless to say, that frustrated III. He loves his grandfather, but is tired of being compared to him. It is a different world now. He wants to do his own thing. While Jr. started out like his old man, he became to sport more of a rowdy country singer rather than a clean one. He eventually grew to be successful in doing that.
In May 2010, Hank III released his final album off of Curb records called Rebel Within'. After that, he was hoping to be unlocking the shackles and limitations that Curb had put on him. Sad to say, Curb screwed him and this Hillbilly Joker album is This Ain't Country minus two tracks. III doesn't make a dime off this and was totally a blindside and a move totally at the expense of him. Many fans will feel hesitant about buying an album that does nothing but taint him and how hard he has worked only to be blatantly betrayed by his former record company. I must admit, I preordered this with zero background that this was actually This Ain't Country. Big surprise to me, but yet it was bittersweet.
We begin with the track the album is named after; Hillbilly Joker. This is definitely my favorite of the album. This is probably Hank's mildest track on the album. Clarifying that "this ain't country." We get I'm Drunk Again and Life of Sin to follow, both highly energized tracks that are loud and shake the speaker system. I'll take 'em. 10 Feet Down and Pistol Packin' (formally Pistol Packin' M***********) are not the greatest, but once more, highly energized making them not the worst of the album. My second favorite on the album was one released on Assjack's debut album as the opener. Tennessee Driver is the name of it, and it was strong then and strong now. Mary F***** Jane (also known as M.F.J.) is quite possibly the strongest and most fierce track of Hank's fifteen year career. It's cutthroat, loud, and almost the equivalent to grindcore metal we hear from A7x and A Day to Remember. Just nasty.
The last tracks are Now He's Dead, a good one, Drink It, Drug It, a great one, and Hellbilly, a decent one. Closing the short, thirty minute piece that is Hillbilly Joker; a rough and tough album that doesn't have a variety of genres like Hank's other county albums, but ten solid songs, none below the level of decent or fair, exploding at their own speed. I'm ecstatic Hank's music finally got the release it deserves, I'm saddened at the fact it is at his personal expense.
Recommended tracks: Hillbilly Joker, I'm Drunk Again, Tennessee Driver, M.F.J, and Now He's Dead.