Send "Hank Williams III " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 For about 90% of bands out there, the prospect of a long-term record contact is a true sign that they’ve “made it”. I’m not talking about 90% of the bands you hear on the radio, I’m referring to all bands. The bands you see taking any paying gig available, be it weddings or in a strip mall on a weekend. Groups of college or high-school friends who are bashing away in their parents garage or basement. The idea, the very notion that these people could quit their day jobs and make a full-time living doing what they love is as alluring as the opportunity for a music geek to land a full-time salaried position as an album reviewer.Of course, some who have been so lucky to land a long-term record contract have a different take. Think Prince in his high-profile fight with Warner Bros. Think Trent Reznor and his fight with Interscope. In some cases, the dispute is as petty as an argument about what additional half-percentage point of royalties should be awarded to an artist. For others that have fallen prey to record execs taking advantage of an artist with no funds and no representation, it could mean taking all royalties and ownership of an artist’s work, leaving the artist broke and in some unfortunate cases, homeless. Like all conflict, the struggles between an artist and their record company have resulted in some great works, depending on the direction the artist wanted to take. Prince’s back-and-forth with Warner Bros. (Prince wanted a triple-LP, Warner Bros. wanted a double) resulted in his classic Sign O’ The Times. However, Prince’s final Warner Bros. album, Come, was the musical equivalent of someone dropping off ten unwanted items at the Salvation Army....full text |
| Culturebully |
| “I honestly don’t think it tops Straight To Hell,” explained Hank Williams III when he discussed his new album Rebel Within last fall in an interview with Outlaw Radio Chicago. “It’s got the slow ones, it’s got the fast ones, and a little attitude. But I still don’t think it tops… I still got another four years before I come close to knocking that one down.” While it remains to be seen whether or not Williams does come up with another album that matches his hellbilly classic, he is right about one thing: Rebel Within and Straight To Hell are beasts of a different colour. But regardless of whether or not the album stacks up to his past records, Rebel Within gives Williams something that none of his other albums have. The bittersweet release concludes his longstanding contract with Nashville’s Curb Records, which to put lightly, has been anything but a gracious relationship. To help cover an overwhelming financial debt Williams signed the longterm contract with the country staple in the mid-’90s. What followed was unforeseeable at the time, but the grim reality of the contract found Williams hopelessly tied down by a label that went out of its way—seemingly with each of his releases—to stifle the musician. With a continued aim to shape Williams into a country row-bowing lamb that leeched from the legacy of his family name, the label continually delayed Williams’ releases; going so far as refusing to release his album This Ain’t Country and denying Williams the ability to release it on his own. In continuing with his Outlaw Radio interview, Williams digressed, “Hopefully they’ll see that I gave them a good record. I could have gave them nothing but static and noise and been like ‘Ah, here ya go, it’s been nice knowing you.’ But I gave them a good record man.” So with all this tension between the two parties combined with Williams’ own admission that Rebel doesn’t compare to his past work, what exactly is the album? Would it be a traditional record that bleeds country, or a final “fuck you”? In reality, it’s a bit of both…...full text |
| Roughstock |
| The Rebel Within marks Hank III's last album with Curb Records, a fact he celebrates with an expletive-laden tirade at the end of "Tore Up and Loud." It is also his most accessible album to date. He has channeled his legendary rebel pride into a deeper, more cultural and historical context, rendering him something more akin to Old Crow Medicine Show. That is not to say there is a lack of drinking and hell raising songs on this album, only that they are tempered by a greater knowledge of what that life brings and what causes it. The humor is more tongue in cheek and less 'high school.' Whether this was caused by a new found maturity in Hank III himself or a freedom in the knowledge that this album would buy his freedom, it is a change for the better. On Rebel Within, Hank III lives up to the very best of his family legacy. “Getting drunk and falling down has taken his toll on me,” Hank confesses in the opening track, before acknowledging “I like a good time living on the run with my good friend misery.” The songs on this album are woven through with a heavy dose of Appalachian fiddle. No where is this more apparent than on the lovely “Looking for a Mountain,” a sprightly tune about mountain living that is almost reminiscent of a 1930's moonshining ballad. He keeps to the theme of living outside the city and outside the law on “Moonshiner's Life.” These are themes and instruments that he has used before, but this album sounds much more polished and considered than his earlier work. What is missing from this album are the overt attempts to sound outlaw or punk that have defined Hank III's previous endeavors. Ordinarily, if an artist like Hank III were to make a more polished and less punk album it would result in a mediocre album. But this is far from an ordinary album, and no where is this more apparent than on “Karmageddon.” The song starts with a quiet string band and soft harmonies, and builds to an ominous cacophony of dogs and guitars howling in harmony over trumpets and the clattering of whips or gunfire akin to The Beatles “Revolution 9.” “Lost In Oklahoma,” on the other hand, sounds like it could be a old Merle Haggard song, complete with references to Mama and being thrown in jail. “Tore Up and Loud” is the only track on the album which contains the frenetic melody and energy of his previous outings. Drinking Over Mama is a tongue and cheek ballad about a son fretting over his mama who discovered beer and crack at the age of 61, while recollecting the life of drudgery that drove her to it. All told, The Rebel Within is a brilliant trek through fifty years of country music seen through the lens of one of its most creative artists....full text |
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