Hank Williams III

Hank Williams' grandson hits his stride on his third long player. He kicks off Straight To Hell by digging his spurs into a Louvin Brothers song, delivering a delightfully dark and somewhat sinister-sounding album of old school twang. He sings mostly of his vices and drops more outlaw names than David Allan Coe's "Willie, Waylon And Me."

On this two-disc set, recorded on the cheap, Hank III's classic honky-tonk moves bump up
against his bar-rocking efforts to "put the dick in Dixie and the cunt in country." "Low
Down" reminds non-fans he can write a sad song worthy of his granddad, and raucous
two-steps like the Kid Rock-dissing "Angel of Sin" give hard-drinking cliches a punkish boot
in the ass.

"Kid Rock don't come from where I come from"--and, oh yeah, "if you thought so goddamn you're f*cking dumb" ("Pills I Took," "Thrown Out of the Bar"). (Grade - *)