Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine new CD from maybe country's most appealing male voice!, August 2, 2003
His fans adore him, even into his fourth decade of recording and concert-making. With one of the clearest and cleanest voices in all of country music, George Strait amazingly keeps pumping out albums that are hard not to enjoy. With a classic country band -- acoustic, electric, and steel guitars; bass; keyboards; solo violins and a string section; and an occasional mandolin or jazz organ -- and just the right amount of background singers, Strait provides an enjoyable set of twelve new tracks, including his radio hit "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa". Our favorite is probably "Heaven Is Missing An Angel": almost rumba-like in feel and tempo, this lovely ballad begs for a nice two-step with your partner. Several other lush ballads benefit from nice arrangements and orchestration, including the title track. Clever lyrics distinguish some of the tunes, including the upbeat "Honk If You Honky Tonk", the crossword-puzzle "Four Down And Twelve Across", and the fast and catchy "I Found Jesus On the Jailhouse Floor". Ironically, that last cut might not appeal to non-religious listeners and/or slightly offend those that are. Other than that, there's not a clinker in the whole group.For one of country's most admired and consistently pleasing vocalists, with no iota of crossover into pop, you couldn't ask for better than George Strait and his new CD "Honkytonkville!"
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Honkytonkville...a nice place to escape to..., June 19, 2003
after listening to Strait's latest, i'm not one bit surprised that i'd walk away totally blown away as usual. there seems to be no stopping him...as much as some predict that Strait hasn't got much left in him (having been on the charts since 1981!!) i'd disagree of course. the CD contains 12 songs, it used to be that 10 songs were the limit on a Strait album, along with everyone else in country music. he took pride in only having 10 songs...but 12 is even better after hearing this.
Ironically, Strait's first single from this is the slow ballad written in 1978 called "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa". usually, Strait and or MCA likes to kick things off with an up-tempo song as the first single in hopes of drawing toe-tappers to the CD. i can hear potential future singles with the songs "As Far As It Goes", "Look Who's Back From Town", and if MCA is risky, the title track "Honkytonkville", which yearns me to imagine such a place on a road-map. Rand McNally must've over-looked this town! all in all it's a great album and as i earlier said, i'm not surprised by it's greatness. "Cowboys Like Us", a tale of motorcyclists uses cowboy/western imagery to paint a story. The horses in that song are made of steel.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How can George top this?, June 12, 2004
I didn't become a George Strait fan until the early '90s, when he did Pure Country. I've always admired his music, though. George hasn't gone "country-pop", but instead he has stuck with authentic country songs, and that formula has made him successful.
Honkytonkville, George's latest record, has produced three solid hits. The mellow ballads "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" and "Desperately", both about longing for an old love, rank up there with George's classic lost-love songs "You Look So Good In Love", "A Fire I Can't Put Out" and "Meanwhile". "Cowboys Like Us", about a couple of buddies riding out in their "steel horses"(pickup trucks) to have a good time, is another big hit off this record. The song "Look Who's Back From Town", about the guy meeting up with his old flame after her rich lover ditched her, is still another great song. "Heaven Is Missing An Angel" and "My Infinite Love" are positive love songs.
Most of Honkytonkville, though, is uptempo. Upbeat songs("Unwound", "Down And Out", and "Right or Wrong", for instance) are what first made George a star. He has a lot of upbeat material on this record. "She Used To Say That To Me", "Honk If You Honky Tonk", "As Far As It Goes", "Four Down And Twelve Across" and the title song "Honkytonkville" are all bouncy, enjoyable songs. My favorite here, though, is the swinging song "I Found Jesus On The Jailhouse Floor". In the song, the speaker has a religious experience after he's arrested for drunkenness, and now he wants to tell everybody. In "I Found Jesus On The Jailhouse Floor", George not only puts a new twist on an already familiar theme, but he makes it sound convincing. Finding original ways of expressing things has been a strength of George's for years, although he doesn't do any of his own songwriting.
In summary, I think George has come out with a great album in Honkytonkville. This record has been out for a year, and people are still buying it. It is easily his best work in quite a while.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Great cd
This is a great country classic cd,, all the songs are easy listening, smooth, smooth, smooth,,, no wonder everyone wants george to sing their songs,,,
Published on April 30, 2004 by jennifer m bustard
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~ George Strait
~ George Strait
~ George Strait
~ George Strait
~ George Strait
by George Strait 
