Since he was a kid, Hank Williams Junior has walked in his father’s steps and then has made his own career, making many records and becoming a real institution and a living legend in the USA. Proof: his last album did get the second place at the Billboard’s Top Country Albums and got place eight at the Top Ten Country. Very famous in the Country music world, he also has a lot of Southern Rock fans. Why? Because our old Hank is, with Travis Tritt, the Country music hero who has real Southern music influences. His last album is totally in that way, just with his “Gods and Guns” (Lynyrd Skynyrd) cover in his own style: Swamp Rock and Country mix that hurries at the end with fast guitars and a Charlie Daniels style violin. This song seems to figure what this musician thinks about the firearms discussion in the United States of America. Hank also does the cover of Neil Young “Are you ready for the Country?” in duet with Eric Church. This song is played at the Country-Rock way with a violin and a guitar.

“Club USA” is a good old fast rock song, with a good guitar solo. Rock n’ Roll is still alive on “Dress like an Icon” where there’s a saxophone solo, and on “It’s about Time”. Some guitars exchanges light country-rock “God Fearin’ Man” and the country song “Those days are gone” talks about the good old times when David Allan Coe was on the air on radios. Hank does a real good job on “Just call me Hank”, a mix of Country and Southern Rock, with tribute to some artists (« Waylon is there with me, Toy and Ronnie too »). He sure talks about Waylon Jennings, Toy Caldwell and Ronnie Van Zant. Just also note “Mental Revenge” (heavy country with heavy guitars) and “Wrapped Up, Tangled with Jesus” (Blues-gospel song with harmonica and choirs). Hank ends with “Born to Boogie”, a duet with country man Justin Moore, a very fast boogie song he already recorded in 1987. So the beard man with dark glasses has made another excellent album of… so what? Blues? Rock? In fact, a touch of everything. Southern music played at its best. Here’s another very good album that can be heard every Saturday night… and every night in fact. As sung Hank at his best period (1982 in fact) « If Heaven ain’t a lot like Dixie, I don’t wanna go ».

Olivier Aubry