I had been doing my best to not do a review on a musician that I had already reviewed, due to the multitude of great musicians/albums out there, but after listening to the newly released Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town album by Hank Williams 3, I felt a review was necessary.
Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town is a 2 disc release that has 2 completely different vibes being offered. The 1st disc, Ghost to a Ghost is the standard sound that is unique to Hank 3: classic "Hellbilly" country mixed with metal/punk style lyrics all thrown together with a country twang, vocal wise. I like Hank 3, but honestly, there are many of his slower tracks that are just too "country" for me. I usually enjoy what is being portrayed lyrically, but the sound of the song usually makes me want to skip ahead to the next track. One of the major changes to this disc of tracks is the metal infused sound that is evenly mixed with his country style. Now, as a general rule I tend to enjoy when different musical genre's are intertwined, but his style of metal, maybe nu-metal?, isn't my cup of tea. His vocal effects nor the standard distorted guitar riffs seem to grab me, and when that is mixed with the regulatory country song verse-chorus-verse standard, it seems to lack a lot. With that being said, there are a couple of tracks that seem to stick in my head and I really enjoy, but with only 2 tracks out of 11, not too impressed.
Disc 2- Gutter Town, is a completely different ballgame, completely. Imagine a country based, experimental concept album about a fictional town called Gutter Town. When I started this album, I was blown away, not due to what I was hearing, but by the sheer magnitude of the experimentalism. There is a lot going on within this disc. Containing multiple instruments, guest appearances from Les Claypool & Tom Waits, each song seems to tell the journey of someone within Gutter Town, all the way to his death and resurrection. Hank 3 has done other highly experimental tracks, but this is the first full length experimental concept album types stuff that I have heard from him. Throughout the 19 tracks there are ambient soundscapes, industrial tinged riffs, eerie spoken words, effect laced polka sounding segments, all leading into a story line about a fictional town that sounds like an "end of the road" destination.
Hank Williams 3 is definitely one of those musicians that has some really good stuff and not so good stuff, but what is good, is usually bad ass; but the 2nd disc of the release is him entering a whole other musical atmosphere. Overall I really enjoyed this release, but had it not been for the 2nd disc concept album, I wouldn't have as many good things to say about it. If you have enjoyed previous Hank 3 albums, you'll really like this one, at least the 1st disc. If you're into experimentalism within your music you'll like this album, at least the 2nd disc. Overall I'd definitely recommend it, but I think it'll be a "love it or hate it" type of album for the standard regular music fan.
Official Score: 4/5 for the overall album. (1st disc-2.5/5, 2nd disc- 4.5/5)
