Customer Reviews

Risin' Outlaw

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I admit not being a fan of country music at..that is " the modern so called country music"...I still enjoy playing the classics time to time Cash/Waylon,Hank Jr/Hank Sr./Jones,etc,,etc,,..but in past 5 years or more I got fed up and disgusted by the sound I heard from airwaves and the sound of these new "pop-rock-hollywood artists". The only recent artists I do buy is Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam when they have a new release out. I was in Target shopping last week..and I saw a video from Hank III on the screen. I immediately gave the screen my full attention and was knocked out by the song. Not to mention his stark resemblence to Hank Sr. in look and voice.. I wondered who IS this "Hank III"? ..some wannabe using the name? ...I did some research on the net..and found out he is the grandson of Hank Sr. and son of Hank Jr.! ...aso saw that he is playing a concert nearby in June. Ive since purchased the CD..and I wont get in to reviewing each song...but got to say...its such a welcome of fresh air! ..Excellent CD of what were missing in country music today! Hope to hear more from this artist in future.

This album is the epitome of honkytonk country. I have been waiting damn near all my life for this album. Many have tried but none have come this close to the real thing. I can listen to this for days and not get tired of it. It may not be for everyone but this is as good as it gets for the genre. His father may have left a few things to be desired but Hank III picks up right where his grandfather left off and brings a modern edge to this music. If I could rate this as six stars I would. A classic in music almost forgotten.

BEWARE!!! One listen to this album will make you want to toss out all those pathetic "country" Shania and Faith albums. This is the real thing here...the bars, the brawls, the beer (with a tear in it to boot). And whether he's really lived it or not, Hank makes you believe he has. Exactly what makes a "real" country album real.

I agree with pretty much everything everyone's already said in these reviews. This is an excellent album that, sadly, will never be played on Country radio nowadays. My only complaint (and the thing that's keeping it from a 5 star rating) is that Hank III at times sounds so much like Wayne "The Train" Hancock that it's scary! Admittedly, Mr. Hancock has borrowed heavily from Hank Sr., as has the latter's grandson. Hancock is also starting to get much more heavily into Texas Swing music on his own 3rd CD. Hank III's album eerily recreates the sound of WH's first 2 albums here, although he does just plain flat out rock more of the two (and uses a drummer full-time - something Hancock does not). Ultimately, the voices of these two sound very similar - and the comparisons will NOT be unaided by the fact that Hank III does 3 Hancock songs on this debut CD, plus thanks WH in the liner notes. Hell - I like 'em both!

On a Friday afternoon when I discovered Hank Williams III will be opening the first eight dates of the upcoming Beck tour, I purchased Risin' Outlaw. I saw this release while passing through the record store that same afternoon. This is what country music is supposed to sound like. I can't believe how refreshing it was to listen to this disc. Hank Williams III makes me feel good about the future of country music. I consider much of today's country music to be unlistenable. If Curb Records is not doing everything they can to promote this CD, I will never understand that one. I like this CD as much as ANY purchase I have made in the last year, and that includes all types of music. You can play this CD over and over again. Try it! Being from Nashville, it's nice to have a new example of country music I can stand behind till the end of time. I wish Hank Williams III all of the best in the world. This disc is great, and it made my month.

You wouldn't know it to listen to what passes for country radio these days, but real country music -- the no-compromise, gut-wrenching, alcohol- and heartbreak-soaked stuff -- is coming back, thanks in good part to a new generation of committed artists. Hank Williams III's debut record is a joy from beginning to end: raw, spare, and moving in the fashion of the finest classic honkytonk. Hank III doesn't even hesitate to revive the often-ridiculed lachrymose country heart song, and if "On My Own"doesn't bring a tear to your eye, check your pulse. Mostly, though, this is tough-minded stuff, tales of ramblin', excess, loneliness, antisocial behavior, life lived on the edge and close to the bone. From the evidence of this disc, Hank III gives us good reason to believe that he has his grandfather's gift. "Blue Devil"is the one attempt to reproduce a pure Hank Williams sound, including tinny 78-era sound quality (for another example, listen to Steve Earle's "The Other Side of Town" on his El Corazon CD). This is country music like they used to, though far too raucous and ornery to sound at all as if it's been brought back from the dead or hauled out of the museum.

Hank III's first CD is solidly rooted. "I might get drunk and rob a bank," he sings on the rocking opener "I Don't Know." "I'm bettin' you're not losin' sleep over me, but if I'm wrong, come over & keep me company," he sings hopefully on the toe tapper "You're the Reason." (not the Carole King song covered by Celine Dion -- just in case you wondered) Shelton wrote the flat out rocker "If the Shoe Fits." "87 Southbound" is a loping slap-your-thighs crooner, "I don't need to hear any more excuses that I don't love you." The pedal steel gets pushed down to the floorboard on Buddy & Julie Miller's weeper "Lonesome for You." "What Did Love Ever Do to You" is one of my favorites, an excellent rocker, "You broke something sacred, precious & true." I find the talked lyrics marginally effective on the slow weeper "On My Own." "Honky Tonk Girls" is a lively toe tapper with great electric lead guitar and a heavy dose of pedal steel. "Devil's Daughter" is a midtempo toe tapper, "She just can't be tamed; she's a burning flame." For a song about drugs & murder, I must say "Cocaine Blues" comes off as a fun country ballad. Another favorite of mine is "Thunderstorms & Neon Signs" with its soft tone and Wayne Hancock melody. "Why Don't You Leave Me Alone" is essentially Hank Sr.'s "Mind Your Own Business" with different words. The live recording leaves some to be desired as far as the acoustics, but Hank III does jam wildly on the music. My least favorite track concludes the CD; "Blue Devil" is a laborious # about selling your soul which is also recorded with poor acoustics, at Hank's home if I recall from the liner notes. All in all, this is a great little CD with plenty of country yelpin' to satisfy hombres & cowgirls worldwide. Enjoy!

Go buy Hank III. If your reading this review, then you're close enough! This CD is soo what country needs right now, and that's good old fashioned honky-tonking twang(with a fresh new raw, edgy touch throw in; check out "I Don't Know", "Lonesome For You" & "You're The Reason). Hank III hits all the right traditional areas on this CD... He borrows from the best of both Pa and Grandpa, and evolves with his own touch and style on top of that.(AND he sounds and looks like his Gramps) Sure he only wrote a few of the songs on this CD(I'm sure there's more to come!) but that's more than any other country artist these days.

I wasn't around when Hank Jr. lived in the shadow of his famous father by singing his songs and everyone told him, "You ain't as good as your daddy was", and I was only 5 when he cut the landmark album, "Hank Williams, Jr and Friends", which took Jr. on to success in his own right. When I first bought this album I was expecting a Hank Jr. flavored CD. Much the was Hank Jr's early albums had the same sound as Hank Sr. When I heard it I was over whelmed. The only way in which Hank III carries on the family tradition is....he also is a musician. Now we have three generation of Williams' with THREE DIFFERENT SOUNDS. This album is a must for all country music fans especially traditional country fans. Edgy yes...but wasn't Hank Sr. and Hank Jr.

Risin Outlaw is a great 1st album, and it's the best country CD in 10 years, apart from Hank Jr's latest, Stormy. Hank III has inherited his grandpa's and his dad's musical genius, and he looks and sounds exactly like his granddad, and that's cool. And like his dad, Hank III is country and likes to rock a little. This is a great mixture of country and punk rock, and in a song like "If the Shoe Fits" and "What Did Love Ever Do to You?" and "Cocaine Blues," that raw punk energy is there behind the country melody! "On My Own" and "Why Don't You Leave Me Alone?" sound very much like Hank Sr, and in the former Hank III can really moan and yodel like his grandfather, and I love that! And "If the Shoe Fits" has a chorus that I can really relate to: "If the shoe fits, wear it, and if the truth hurts, bear it....It's a hard road to choose, bein' good and payin' dues, but that's the kind of life I'm living and I plan on livin' long." Hank Sr would be proud as hell of his talented grandson.