Customer Reviews

Cold Hard Truth

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you like Toby Keith dont insult me by reading this review or buying this CD. Ed Burleson is the real deal. This cd is unbelievable, if you liked My Perfect World you'll like this one too, if not better. This guy is too country for Nashville, he's a Texas original. If you are in to Pat Green and the whole Texas country revolution than get this CD. You have to be a country traditionalist because this is fiddle and steel guitar and high pitched singing at its best. The first track will make you get up and two step and you wont stop until the last song. Ed will make a believer out of you that true country singer and song writers arent dead.

The cold, hard truth is I stopped listening to country some years ago and reverted to Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, and Bob Wills. Now I'm catching up with the country revival, and luck turned me onto Ed Burleson's "Cold Hard Truth." Out of a bunch of CDs I bought lately by new performers I never heard of before, this one is head and shoulders above the rest. I love the energy in these songs, the great musicianship, and the unprocessed sound that takes you back to the good old days.

Burleson's high and tight voice sounds like pure Texas, and the songs are all about tough times, busted hearts, and charging on through no matter what. The opening song, "(Hill Billy Soul and) Honky Tonk Heart," sets the tone for the whole album, of pure fun and orneriness bound to get any man into trouble. And the follower, "All Bucked Up," is a wide-grinning tip of the Stetson to music legend and inspiration, Buck Owens.

There's a quick shift to busted-love songs, "Cold Hard Truth" and "If You Wanna Go Just Go," followed by the mournful "Loneliness (Made Me Do Things I Ain't Proud Of)." This trio is a heart-felt journey through anger, sorrow, and regret, and Burleson sings it like he's been there, for sure.

Other favorites on the album are "Long Distance Love" and the foot-loose anthem "Ramble On." The joy of the album is its embrace of so many different musical styles ranging from roots to Jimmy Buffet. "Dead Skunk" is wonderfully outrageous, and it leads to the rip-roaring, bring-down-the-house finale, "Heartbreak Highway." This CD is on the changer in my car, where it's kept a smile on my face even in the worst traffic.

Texas honkytonker Ed Burleson is one of the brightest lights on the independent country scene today. This new record is simply flat-out one of the best hard country albums of the year... Heck, of the century (so far!). Sure, Burleson has plenty of rough edges... that's what makes his music so real. He also has a kick-ass band with guys who know how to play country music with real feeling, and a bunch of songs that sound like a real, live human being wrote 'em, not some committee in Nashville. Burleson's other albums have all been really good... this one is really great... his best to date. Highly recommended!

Ed Burleson's fourth album, "The Cold Hard Truth," continues his emphasis on a tight roots country sound that presents fresh material with traditional sensibilities. Nine of 14 songs were written or co-written by Burleson, and he demonstrates that he can turn a phrase for a slow ballad ("Loneliness"), develop a hook to draw you in ("All Bucked Up"), or even write bluegrassy numbers ("Ramble On" and "The Cold Hard Truth"). The latter bounces along like a backstep from the Clinch Mountains of Virginia, but Burleson appears to get most of his inspiration from his native Lone Star State. Co-producer Doug Sahm introduces Ed "Too Country" Burleson who then breaks into a raucous and rocky "Heart Break Highway" to close the album. Burleson also gives a nod to North Carolinian Loudon Wainwright III with a cover of "Dead Skunk," a song written in fifteen minutes that climbed to #16 for Wainwright in the early 70s.

With the help of ten accompanists who play guitars, steel, dobro, mandolin, bass, fiddle and drums, Burleson serves up a tasty mix of contemporary and feisty honky tonkin'. Deserving special recognition are Ray Austin (steel, dobro) and Reggie Reuffer (fiddle). His interpretive twist in a song like his triple-timed "Tell Me Why" is to interweave hot acoustic licks between the verses. He also showcases the band's straightforward musicianship in another genre, Western Swing, with "Sneakin' Suspicion."

A former rodeo cowboy, Ed Burleson's performance arena is now the many clubs and festivals that book him. In the fall of 2004, he'll perform on Palo Duro's Texas Music Cruise. Burleson has the voice, talent and friends to continue his upward climb to greater heights. With continued hard work, his devoted following may even one day approach that of Sahm's and Wainwright's. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, Oregon)

This CD is an instant classic. I waited and waited for a few years for a new Burleson CD and I was NOT disappointed. It's flying off the shelves here in Dallas. If you liked "A Perfect World," you will love "Cold Hard Truth." The fiddle, steel guitar, and Ed's one-of-a-kind voice is true to honky tonk music.

Ed Burleson
"The Cold Hard Truth"
(Palo Duro Records, 2004)
-------------------------------------
This was one of my picks for the best country albums of 2004, a gritty, funny, soulful set by Texas songwriter Ed Burleson, who is one of the most talented artists in the so-called "red dirt" movement of independent, non-Nashville Southern country singers. If you like great old-school hard country honkytonk -- Webb Pierce, Lefty Frizzell, etc. then check this guy out. (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue Guide To Hick Music)

This album is pure traditional country with lots of steel guitar and fiddle and has a unqiue sound to it unlike any other! Every track is dynamite, and each track has a different country style to it, most of them upbeat songs about women, drinkin', and playin good ol' honky tonk music! The best two tracks are "All Bucked Up" is a tribute to the great Buck Owens and the very under rated "The Can" a clever song about how drinking has ruined his life. This guy has an incredible voice and is pure talent and it's a wonder why he isn't more popular. I've listened to a lot of music in my day, and this is one of the best albums I have EVER HEARD!

They don't make 'em like this anymore. With a precious few exceptions. This is hard-driving country music. And Burleson has the voice to pull it off, with that tear-in-your-beer lonely sound. A lot of today's "country" is just pop music; a lot of today's "alt.country" is just rock'n'roll. This album is solid country music, pure and simple. I hope I get a chance to see this guy live sometime!