Customer Reviews

Hanky Panky

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an outstanding album that I still play and play and play. The moods and the imagery is amazing. If you are a THE THE fan buy it, if you are a music lover buy it, if your a drunk redneck - live it.

I am huge fan of good music and good lyrics. That said, even though I hate country music, I love Hank Williams. There just hasn't been another songwriter like at his level, with the exception of maybe Dylan. I recently bought the Timeless Hank Williams tribute CD, which I enjoyed, but with the great artists appearing on that compilation I just expected more. Then I heard about this CD. This disc is NOT made up of country remakes.... this CD is all rock and blues. And that's okay because Hank was a rock/blues singer at heart anyway. Matt Johnson does a great job on these songs, and after hearing this disc, it inspired me to listen to more of The The. What a great band, and what a great CD. Johnson is in touch with Hank Williams' emotions on every song. Best tribute CD... ever.

To many "covers" of Hank's songs have been done by Country stars in an attempt to reveal their songcraft but never make the song their own. THE THE does this and more. The interpretations of Hank songs, some familiar, some not, make for excellent listening. Hanky Panky engages the listener into appreciating not only the root source of the music but it's impacts on Matt's arrangements and the feelings he has for the songs. Hank may be considered Country but few Country stars make the transition to a song writer of classic stature and THE THE does justice to him. I can only hope that future THE THE interpretations are this gutsy and true to the source as Hanky Panky. For those who appreciate music and good music this is an excellent album to have in one's collection.

For those of us who grew up with little country in our collection save perhaps some Skynyrd and countryish rock like the Eagles. And for good reason - most country that us city folk end up hearing is crap on par with the worst pop rock.

This album is excellent. Before listening to it I only had a faint knowledge of Hank Williams Sr. Now I own a few albums. The amazing thing is that The The manage to recreate the originals in compelling formulations, while the originals still stand the test of time as they are. Hanky Panky is a great tribute to one of the best singer songwriters of days past by one of our own.

Not a country fan but this CD is awesome. It made me want to learn more about Hank Sr. Matt Johnson can hit you in the heart better than any other artist... Also, DUSK is one of my top five favorite CDs, with the brilliant guitar work of Johnny Marr. Get them both!!

dmh

Grew up listening to mostly old school country.

I discovered the intensity of the The years and years ago - Matt's music makes my toes wiggle.

I think what Matt has done with Hank Sr's songs is brilliant. It's the type you want to listen over and over.

I've heard Hank Jr and he didn't do them the justice Matt has.

AND last but not least - when seeing both in concert - Matt connected with the songs and Hank Jr. almost mocked them...

Food for thought.

This album has gotten considerable flack because it winds up being neither Matt Johnson or Hank Williams. But I think the synergistic effect works well, and I admire Johnson for the integrity and fearlessness it must take to record an album of revisionist covers of country classics by one of the greats. Closer to the sound of The The than Williams, which is in my mind far from a bad thing. However, the slow songs tend to drag, though few are longer than 2 minutes. A must have, if only for "Honky Tonkin'," "I'm A Long Gone Daddy" and "I Saw the Light."

Matt Johnson delivers a gut-wrenching, authentic, sincere, and powerful tribute with his Hank Williams interpretations. This is a departure from Matt Johnson's own material (to a degree, that is. Williams' and Johnson's music is generally imbued with some sense of irony, cynicism, and heartache/pain, making them kindred spirits of sorts)... not a moment of this CD is misspent or gone awry. It is sheer listening pleasure throughout. I loved this from the first moment I got it, as with most The The albums.

After listening to this CD I can't go into a honky-tonk without a sense of dread. This recording is not an attempt to sound like Hank Williams or even Tony Bennett or even Hasil Adkins. You will probably not ever hear another more idiosyncratic set of Hank covers. I am still trying to figure out whether I like this or hate it. Although I have the last cut streaming on my music server, and might add the first track. I gotta listen to this some more. And avoid honky-tonks.

As Matt Johnson says in the liner notes, this is his take on the lyrics of Hank Williams Sr. suitably TheThe-ized for your late night listening pleasure. Just as Matt's admonishion on "Dusk" was for listener to play it late at night (and loudly), this record deserves to be played on those occassions when the whole world seems to be coming down right on your head (with a swift kick in the butt as the capper). It's the auditory equivalent of a night of drunken self-pitying misery with a note of hope buried within. It's a great album to travel with (the rhythm section Matt's pulled together here is just plain awesome in their ability to move the songs forward with a heavy, driving feel of desperation), a great album to get over the blues with (and with that haunting harmonica on some of the tunes, it feels like Matt pulling Hank away from the Grand Ol' Opry to the shanty towns and juke joints along the Mississippi). Matt's voice has never sounded deeper or more haunting (okay, well, you can say that about any TheThe album, but it really works to great effect here, much like the best Tom Waits albums, where his voice is so central to the storytelling you can't imagine hearing it any other way). All in all, a perfect tribute album, and Matt has promised more in the same songwriting/storytelling vein. Hopefully TheThe will record renditions of Leonard Cohen next, but with Matt Johnson's on-again-off-again love affair with recording studio albums, we could be waiting a very long time for the next tribute, if not the next full-fledged TheThe album (as I write this Matt has finished touring for Nakedself). Buy it as an adventure in music, and a well thought out obligatory ode to the lyrics of the late, great Hank Williams Sr.