Straight to Hell

Hank Williams III | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 28, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Bruc Records
• ASIN: B000AGTQGS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,065 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #13 in Music > Indie Music > Country > Alt-Country & Americana
  • #22 in Music > Country > Americana
  • #22 in Music > Country > Outlaw Country

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Satan Is Real, Straight to Hell

2. Thrown Out of the Bar

3. Things You Do To Me

4. Country Heroes

5. D Ray White

6. Low Down

7. Pills I Took

8. Smoke & Wine

9. My Drinkin Problem

10. Crazed Country Rebel

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Louisiana Stripes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A new album from Hank Williams III is always a revelation: first, because it came out at all (his relationship with his label is as stormy as the marriage of his legendary grandparents); and second, because of its content and execution. So it's something of a miracle to see a 2-CD set of some of III's most hardcore Hellbilly (as opposed to the relentless screaming of his Assjack), especially as a number of the songs had been scheduled to appear on his unreleased 2003 album Thrown Out of the Bar. Hank III calls the new offering--recorded mostly on a $500 machine, for a DIY sound--a "thrill ride into a life of sin." This may explain the fact that Straight to Hell, which opens with some old-fashioned gospel and abruptly ends with the sound of a belly-laughing Satan, comes with a parental advisory sticker. He earns it, all right, especially on "Dick in Dixie," which is not a song about a man named Richard. As usual, III spends a lot of time pointing out what's wrong with Nashville; worshiping pills, weed, and wine; and self-mythologizing. But when he gets down to business, putting his graddaddy's bray on such songs of misery as "Angel of Sin," well, all is forgiven. III also gets big points for the second disc's 42-minute hidden track, a self-indulgent but brilliant pastiche of sound comprised of a Hank Sr. song ("I Could Never Be Ashamed of You"), snippets of a Wayne "The Train" Hancock tune, a fragment of a song III wrote with ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, a little Cheech and Chong, as well as assorted sounds of a speeding train, runaway horses, pig snorts, a gunshot, and some hellfire-and-brimstone preaching. A drug-laced dream? The soundtrack to that journey to Hades of the album title? Damned interesting, either way. --Alanna Nash

Product Description

2 LP vinyl version of Hank III's most prolific album to date. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Criticism of sound quality? Please..., March 11, 2006

By 

Don Bliss (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straight to Hell (Audio CD)

Whoever criticized the sound quality apparently has no idea of the back-history regarding this album.

Hank III spent 4 years fighting with his label to put out a record on his own terms, without the slick Nashville production of Risin' Outlaw and most of the boybands-with-a-fiddle on the radio. In addition to wanting to select and write his own material without compromise, he also wanted to record a raw album, produce it himself with minimal overdubs and slick production. This was the way records used to be made in the 50s when most classic country was still recorded in primitive studios and released on independent labels. Considering the concept behind this album, the production quality sounds surpisingly modern. Hank III did an excellent job caputuring the nuances of acoustic instruments, and mixing them in a way that is very crisp and clear (unlike most vintage recordings from the 50s). He made the record himself at his house in a relaxed, creative environment - but unlike artists in the 50s, he used digital multitrack recording to more accurately capture the instruments. The vocals are more raw in places, but this is a throwback to hillbilly mountain music and western swing. It's not supposed to be pretty and slick. That's the whole point. Next time, be careful not to miss the forest for the trees.

And all that being said, there are quite a few songs that would stand up to anything on modern country radio as a hit song. Listen to "Low Down", "My Drinking Problem" or "Things You Do To Me". The vocal production on all of those songs, and the multi-part backing vocals on "Low Down" in particular, sound professionally-produced. The vocals match the top-notch sound quality of the instruments, the accessible quality of songwriting, and the tight performances. With these songs, everything comes together in a package that could compete with anything else on mainstream radio (without compromising an inch of Hank III's non-pop integrity). You could never tell that these songs were home recordings. And they still fit in with the rough, raw, non-radio friendly outlaw songs on the CD.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Country is Back!, June 20, 2006

By 

D. Pitts (Blanco, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Straight to Hell (Audio CD)

I'm an old fart. I bought 78's of Hank Sr. I had vinyl, then CD's, of Hank Jr. I liked 'em both, for their likeness and their differences. In Hank III, who I never knew existed until I saw this cd here on Amazon, is living proof that the hank legacy is real. This is one frikkin great cd. I love it!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required purchase for fans of real country., February 28, 2006

By 

Bill R. (VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straight to Hell (Audio CD)

This album is incredible. It's everything that's great about his other two albums but with a newfound level of independence he found by recording it himself (on a simple $500 digital recorder anyone could buy from a music store).

Every track has it's little surprises - being the first-ever country album with a parental advisory sticker (that I know of anyway), it's still kind of funny to hear him throw out a random swear when talking about the sheriff's wife or Kid Rock.

The quality of the music on Disc 1 is nothing short of amazing. Certain passages of music made my jaw drop at the sheer intensity of the playing and the passion Hank's band put behind this thing. Though it was recorded by Hank and two of his friends alone, the sound quality is great - country the way it should be, from the heart, without all the studio gloss they use on Britney Spears albums.

Disc 2 is something else entirely. Hank describes it in an interview as being "done wrong," just "having fun" with his band. It's two tracks, a regular song and the second being one long montage of atmospheric noises like trains, slowed down music, and some fun stuff thrown in like the first Hank III cover of a Hank Sr. song, "I Could Never Be Ashamed of You." I won't ruin all the surprises for you but it's a heck of a listen.

If you're already a III fan, you should already know how good this is. If you're a pop-country music fan, know and understand that this ain't Big and Rich, Kenny Chesney, or Tim McGraw. Hank III is real country, done his way, and if you don't like it, he doesn't care.

But if you know anything about country music, you should like it.