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List Price: $18.98 | | Label: Bruc Records
Salesrank: 4860
Released: February 28, 2006 |
| Our Price: $10.16 |
| Used Price: $8.73 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
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
Straight to Hell Reviews:
Evil Country At Its Finest 
2009-09-05 - This is the first Hank III CD I have purchased, so I can't really compare it to his other work, or anything else for that matter. I really enjoy this CD; I like the way he throws elements of metal and punk-rock into the mix, while still keeping it insufferably hillbilly. I prefer the more high-energy songs--"Pills I Took" is wrong and hilarious, one of my favorites! His slower songs tend to be that sad kinda funny, and sound a lot like the work of his grandfather. All in all, this CD is quite good.
An instant classic across all genres 
2009-09-01 - I hate country music. It's overly simplistic to the point of inspiring a boy / power girl band mood with zero lyrical depth and raw crap they crank out from sample boxes called music. It's rated G music at best Disney buys up for the next film about a cute ant falling in love with a mean dragonfly.
Hank III agrees with me, and he made an album rivaling Cashs' best work. Straight to Hell is by far one of the best albums to come from the 2000's, and boy we needed one.
This is not your daddy's country music!
2009-07-12 - "Straight To Hell" is a revelation. This two-disc album offers as much as anyone can hope for from high-tempo pickin' to raw analog recordings. From its sinister opening on the first disc all the way throughout the 42-minute "Hidden Track" on the second disc there is a lot here to take in.
The first disc is a showcase of some of the finest example of classic country with very little in the way of over-produced production. It gets right back to the basics of what country music should be and doesn't let up. Sure there are the occasional sound effects but that doesn't detract from the overall roots feel to the material.
The second disc kicks off with "Louisiana Stripes", a fitting piece that finds Hank III channeling the late Johnny Cash. afterwards is the aforementioned "Hidden Track" that throws about as much into the mix as possible laced with darkness (a track is deliberately slowed down to a sinister growl) and dark humor (the cover of Cheech & Chong's "Up In Smoke" with an intro by one of Hank's stoned friends via an answering machine message).
This is stuff not meant for radio play. But then, considering the stuff on the radio, that's a blessing. It's certainly not a boring album over here for I find myself listening to it from time to time. Not a bad album at all!
Awesome Album
2009-05-26 - Great album. I am not a huge country fan, but I can appreciate the musicality of the album. Catchy melodies, great vocals, memorable lyrics, and a good band.
Runnin' and a' gunnin' and lookin for a damn good time!
2009-05-06 - From the opening lines "Satan is real..." to the closing croon "when you're lovin' an angel of sin, she'll never be there for you" this album takes you on a meteoric ride to the far reaches of good times and late nights. This album is the soundtrack for any party worth havin! Sapelak says that 3 was following him around and writing songs about all the things he did (that may might be true), but I think this record speaks to a certain strata of folks who exist below the radar of the normalers and those folks who live this way get it and those that don't, well, they never will and this record wasn't written for them. 3 writes real country from a mindset settled when country was rock n' roll and "rock n' roll" wasn't even a phrase! While "not everybody likes us", that's just how it goes. Some of us have enough friends.
