1. Hank Williams III- Damn Right Rebel ProudI've never had a problem with Hank III's vulgarity, and it absolutely enhanced Straight To Hell, but I think with this album it really isn't working. I wanted so badly to be a fan of this collection of songs, but for the most part the ones that stood out only did so in a negative way, and all because he is taking himself to seriously. Just from the song titles alone, like "Candidate For Suicide," "H8 Line," and "Stoned & Alone," you can tell Hank has left the party behind and, rather than being social with good people, he is just stuck on seeing how anti-social he can be.
2. Van Morrison - Keep It Simple Van Morrison has been making the same album over and over, with some changes, since 1968's seminal Astral Weeks. On Keep It Simple, Van Morrison has made all of the possible variations of that album twice over, and is thus recording an album that shows how utterly bored he is. Many reviewers have commented on how Morrison spends a verse of one song repeating the non-syllable "blah" over and over again. Actually, it's two verses. What's sad is that, in his prime, Morrison could have made "blah" sound interesting for as long as he wanted to, working it over like those gutteral 70s howls that punctuated his epics, but now it simply sounds like stagnation.Honorable Mention: Guns'n'Roses - Chinese Democracy
Nothing could live up to what Axl promised.
3 comments:
Really, Hank Williams III bad? Out of all the albums that came out this year? Huh......
Well, I'm not saying Hank is one of the worst albums, just one of the most disappointing. Straight to Hell is one of my favorite albums ever. I have everything Hank III has done and I really like it all, even the new album. It's just that my expectations after Straight To Hell were really high and it was a bit of a let down. It won't stop me from buying whatever he puts out next though, or from seeing him in concert when he comes around.
Wes Anderson and Studs Terkel.... nice. I took a class with Miles Harvey last semester, and he knew Studs. Its about the proudest I can be to be one degree from someone. Unfortunately, I'll never get a chance to meet Studs himself.
Post a Comment