Honky Tonk Masquerade

Decent album. Not a fan of country, but some of his songs sounded good when they had some blues to it and I can appreciate his guitar play. I also like that he's not doing the whole country drawl that has gotten popular with current country.

As country music goes, this shit legendary. Proper country stuff. Fantasied about working on a texas ranch while listening to the whole album.

The name really says it all with this one.

yaya i missed one im sad

A pleasant country-rock album. Definitely liked the rock side of it a bit more. Felt like driving with the windows down. Would listen again on another sunny day like this one. 3.5/5 if I could, definitely liked more than I thought I would considering its age and genre.

Way twangier than my normal listening, but had some good songs. I’d never heard of Joe Ely before the project, but I might check out some stuff now.

Not being North American and having no real connection to country music, I can only say that this album is fine. It didn't bother me, and it didn't bore me either. Not going to listen to it again, though.

gotta admire how consistent this guy can be with his twangy honky tonk country-esque blathering. tbh I didn't hate it, but this is really just music you're not supposed to pay full attention to

Pretty good....might need to relisten to this one. But kinda just washed right past me.

Not my favourite genre but was enjoyable enough

Looking at the album's title and cover, I was expecting a pretty standard country album. While it feels rather standard in places, the busier production and use of fuzzy guitars and synthesisers help it stick out. What is even more impressive is that that none of the synths parts sound particularly dated. Taking a stronger influence from rock music, this feels like an update to the standard country formula. Although it may not mix things up too much and there are certain moments that feel corny, this still a stomping hoot of a record that has a short runtime that doesn't allow the music to stagnate.

It was good but not my vibe

Nothing special

I'm not in the camp of most users here; I love country music. I don't like this. I did learn, though, where Jay Faraar learned to sing.

This is amazing. The singing isn't always great, but this album is just a good time.

2.9

More enjoyable than most country music. I like the zydeco flavors in here

Honky tonk masquerading as what, exactly? Bland boring country music?

Essential Texas music. The guy opened for the Clash on their first tour of the US for crying out loud! Joe's best record 4.5 stars

Je sais pas rien d’extraordinaire

Enjoyment: 8/10 Replayability: 7/10 Cohesion: 7/10 Flow/Pacing: 8/10 Artistic Merit: 6/10 Weighted Average: 7.3/10 Review: Now this is some classic, honky tonk sound - I just wanted to jump out of my seat and start square dancing with it. Some of the synthesizer portions didn't fit as well as they could, but the melodies easily counteracted any bad will that was mustered. Liked Song(s): Jericho (You Walls Must Come Tumbling Down), Honky Tonk Masquerade, I'll Be Your Fool, Fingernails, West Texas Waltz Disliked Song(s): (None) Recommend? Yes Heard Before? No

Sounds like a pretty representative album of the genre. It's good, but not sure it's good enough to get past my bias against default country. Later tracks were enjoyable. I suppose it's not a bad cover of honky tonkin' though i like Van Zandt's more. Overall not a bad country album.

There've been a lot of "not like the other girls!!" country albums on this list, things that bait out comments like "I can't get into most country, but this one's different!" This album is a healthy break from that; the one that'll absolutely make no new believers, the one that plays it straight and has little going for it to make the urban, the british, and the liberal say "not all country music!" Unless you're the world's biggest accordion fan. Or Robert Dimery, I suppose

I like a lot of this well enough, but not enough to revisit it, probably ever. 7/10

This album started out strong (for a country album), but as it went on it got more and more honky and I got less and less interested. High 2.

This was fine, just another 70s country album that I’ll forget I listened to Playlist add: “Jericho (Your Walls Must Come Tumbling Down)”

Do you know what a honky-tonk is? If not, that’s fine — after all, you probably aren’t American. It’s an inexpensive bar featuring live music that mostly attracts working-class folks — a dive bar, basically. Later on, the term was also applied to the genre of music played in these establishments. And do you know who Joe Ely is? If not, that’s understandable; even not all Americans know him. It turns out he’s a country artist who played exactly that kind of honky-tonk music. To put it simply: imagine rockabilly without the upright bass and keyboards. That’s roughly what this album sounds like. The occasional, unexpected appearance of an accordion adds a bit of variety to the mix. I haven’t the faintest idea why this record made the list of essential albums. The songs are decent, soulful Texas tunes, but there’s nothing particularly special about them. Presumably, the people who compiled the list were simply surprised that, by the late 70s, someone was still capable of bringing something new to country music.

This is some very creatively composed country. It has some velocity I don't often hear in the genre. I love the accordion especially, but there are tons of cool arrangement details across this thing. I may have to revisit this and give it a more in depth review, but I loved this quite a bit!

Ughh. Man I have gotten a string of bad to just fine albums, and this one is not helping. Guess that's what I get for having a really damn good string of 4s and 5s recently. I'm sure it's fine for country, but this stuff does nothing for me and a lot of times verges on annoying. I will say Boxcars is a pretty good song though, since it's darker and got more of a vibe to it beyond just standard old country. But yeah. Not enjoying this one.

This really isn’t good

First impression: wow, this is bad. The first song sounds like a Paperback Writer ripoff, then it morphs into an upbeat bluesy-jazz feel. Yikes. The rest is cliched country that's a little over-produced. No thanks.

I don't like it

I did not hate this! Pretty enjoyable romp all told. Was expecting something a lot less upbeat and a lot more droney. Result.

Pretty generic 70s country. Joe Ely is talented, but this isn't great.

Sometimes I can't help but feel like all country music can be classified in two: good sounding music, and circus music. I will let the rating speak for me.

Not terrible, but it felt a lot longer than 34 minutes.

The fast songs are good. The slow songs are a saccharine slog

You know, if anything, I think this could have been honkier AND tonkier. I was generally pretty up on the upbeat songs with prominent gee-tar. Other parts are proper country, but it's decent enough. I like his singing voice. I was maybe less enthused as it went on, but overall I was pretty happy with this!

I thought this was a fun listen

Nope. Fairly poor

Not for me

Sometimes country catches my ear - this didn't album really didn't do that till the last song. I'd give this album a 2.5, but I'm okay with 3.

Honkey Tonk ist one of the most stupid names that have ever been created by men

Well, this was surprising.

A bit too cheesy for me..

Really liked it. I like classic country that’s a distinct genre from pop.

1 stern

Cornbread Moon is a great title for a parody of this guy's music. I think my main feedback to him would be to use the phrase Cornbread Moon less often if he wants me to take him seriously.

Honky Tonk Masquerade is a boilerplate country album that doesn't really bring anything with it. The first track feels okay, then you quickly realize you just want it to finish asap, as it's boring and uses all of the genre's clichés without anything added. Ely's voice is mediocre. The only signs of life were in Fingerbails (with that piano play which, again, was by no means outstanding) and the last track Honky Tonkin'—but only in the end when a bunch of people sang together, differing it a little from the whole monotonous thing. No chance I'm playing this again.

Meh, I don't care about honky tonk country

Obscure country record nobody has heard of? Ok, let us give it a go. Aggressively American this. And sorta just a mess. It's basically the same as every other country album. "Herp a derp farm! Herp a derp church! Herp a derp 'MericA!" Just fuck off with that garbage lmao. The guitar sounds good , clearly a talented guitarist, but Jesus the lyrics are dull. If you ignore the lyrics though this album is pretty good. Well executed but cliche.

3.5

Like the voice.

I’d heard of Joe Ely but never listened to any of his music. The low overall score had me a bit concerned, as I’m generally not a fan of country music. However, I do like honky tonk. So I was at least intrigued. I really enjoyed this a lot. Musically it was a lot of fun, and his lyrics are funny, poignant, and quite intelligent compared to much of the genre. And he just has some fun for the sake of fun lyrics as well. Standouts were Cornbread Moon, Jericho (my favorite on the album), Fingernails, and Honky Tonkin’.

I see, is honky Tonk equals to white old man?

This was awesome. A bunch of Texas country. There were so many strand out hits on here. Definitely will listen again.

I'm just not into country. I'm sure it's a 5 for those that are.

Just reading "honky tonk" leaves such an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I read that it's comparable to the Redheaded Stranger, which meant it can't be that bad, and hit play. The first track was on the right track for about a second before it turned into something I didn't need. Eventually I gathered the positive quality lies heavily in the talented use of instruments and the production. It's not difficult to leave playing in the background. It's definitely not attractive because of the quality of the lyrics, which leave a lot to be said for me, if not for the music picking up when the lyrics find no way out. 1.2/5

2.5/3 Não é meu estilo

For a country album, this isn't that bad. I'm usually not a huge fan of country but enjoyed a lot of this album.

More bloody slide guitars! Argh!

Fun bar country

Great, a random country guy I've never heard of. The big names were excellent, but I don't know about the smaller names like this. Turns out, I didn't need to worry too much. This album is mostly mediocre country that can often sound like the shit radio "country" that is incredibly insipid, but it has a few legitimately great country songs. It is more rock-inflected than most country of the period, with noticeable synth flourishes and even a guitar solo on one track. The lyrics are mostly just ok, but sometimes they are good. This album is not as good as the big name country of the 1970s, but it definitely deserved to be heard. It actually feels quite ahead of its time in many ways. This album is ranked #27 of 32 albums for 1978. Other 1978 albums rated by me: Van Halen(4/33)-4 Darkness on the Edge of Town(6/33)-5 One Nation Under A Groove(7/33)-5 Stardust(8/33)-4 C'est Chic(9/33)-4 Live and Dangerous(10/33)-4 This Year's Model(13/33)-3 All Mod Cons(14/33)-4 Germfree Adolescents(19/33)-4 Third/Sister Lovers(25/33)-4 Duck Stab/Buster & Glen(32/33)-3

Quickly zoned out. Psychedelic country doesn’t work.

That’s a weird last name

Honky tonk fluff. I've got a soft spot for a lot of folk and country music, but this just felt totally unremarkable.

I grew up in the country, surrounded by questionable music tastes. I could totally see Fingernails being played by one of the good old boys and everyone spilling lots of beer in the process. That is not to say I personally enjoyed this. Indeed, I would go as far as saying that I can see a very real lineage from this to the pop country garbage we have nowadays. Plus writing a song about telling a woman "hey, if you don't get with me I'll tell people you're frigid" but pretending it's romantic by linking it to the Walls of Jericho didn't enamour me to him. But Boxcars was OK, and it was just over 30 minutes so it wasn't complete torture.

Full of old school country jams. Very fun.

cosmic balance. (crashing out).

An album titled Honky Tonk anything is always going to make me wary. And so it came to pass. It's whiny and painful. The steel guitar belongs in the same league as the harmonica and bagpipes: instruments of aural torture. I totally respect the thousands—nay, millions—who love this whiny, soundalike country drivel. As I also respect the millions that love Mongolian throat singing. Surely millions can't be wrong? right? Hmmm.

No

Joe Ely is an Austin legend and seems like a cool dude. Wearing sandals on the cover is a choice. And this was just ok unfortunately. I like some of his other songs a bit more.

How can anyone record this in 1978 and think it's still relevant ? Does Joe even know the 60s and 70s happened ? I guess he at least heard about the Summer of Love, since he was bold enough to pose barefoot on the cover, instead of wearing a suit like an old square. But apart from that, his music sounds like it's stuck in 1965, when the Rolling Stones were the new hot thing and the shadow of Elvis still loomed large. It's mostly bland, derivative and quite boring, with some of the worst traits of folk and country music, and even a bit of pre-80s corniness. A masquerade indeed. It's really a pity because I can absolutely get behind some good old honky-tonk crooning when it's done right. There's a couple of songs here that could almost save the album, like Boxcars... But it’s not nearly enough for me to get me excited. Ideally I'd rate this a 1.5*. I'll round it down because right now I'm really fed up with country. 2/10

Yesterday’s album with the trio of mature women with perms suddenly sounds a lot better. Joe Ely feels like some washed-up guy playing a live set at the local community centre. I absolutely hate everything about it: the production, the bland voice, the fucking slide guitar… An absolute horror show.

He has a good voice. "Because of the wind" and "West Texas Waltz" were good. Most felt like routine county songs. 3 out of 5.

More fun than expected. Not bad

Always a pleasant surprise when passable country is on the menu. That accordion gave everything such a fun Bourbon St quality to it.

Nag

Honestly not bad, for not being the country I'd gravitate towards (not that I'd really gravitate towards country), but... is he barefoot on the cover? Why is that bothering me? That should not bother me. I am bothered. Bird feeders are televisions for indoor cats.

All I needed to see was "honky tonk" to know I would hate his. Ironically, the closing track, called Honky Tonkin' kinda rocked. There was a decent piano number on here too, though pretty off-putting that it was written about Fingernails. Neither could really save this for me.

Meh. Didn't hate it. But I didn't really like it either. Not a fan of country.

“You sure look fine tonight, in the beer sign light.” That pretty much sums up my opinion of this album. It was a real stretch to listen to this until the end. Another time and a different cultural aesthetic. I’m not really into lives or women who bask in the light of beer signs

Rate: 7 5/10.

Classic Texas country music. Very American, Ill say that much

It’s very forgettable

Det er vel country.. Findes meget bedre, men også meget værre. Siger mig ikke nok

Det gør ingen fortræd. Det er fint men bliver måske en anelse kedeligt, og gør ikke det helt store for mig. Enten et stort 2-tal eller et meget lille 3-tal.

*48 Næsten en 3’er. Jeg synes sku, det er meget sjovt. Det har dog lige 10% for yeehaw til mig.

Gabegabesen.dk - hold op en steneren omgang

Ikke min kop te, det er alt for 'murican cowboy. Boriiiiiiinnnnnnnggggggg 2.3

Nej

I was a bit doubtful going into this album, but it really grew on me as it went along. Most of the tracks have a lively, upbeat vibe that mixes honky tonk country with rock and blues. This isn’t something I’d listen to regularly, but I enjoyed it and would definitely be interested in checking out more of Joe Ely’s work.

I’ve always enjoyed Ely’s voice and choice of songs. It holds true here as well, however, I was not a fan of the semi- country swing style of the music.

So so boring. Does not deserve to be on this list in the slightest

Not for me

A surprisingly theatrical country album for 1978, feels a bit over-the-top and doesn't offer very interesting composition or lyrics for me though. Highlights: "Cornbread Moon", "Fingernails", "West Texas Waltz"

Notable Textzeile: She is to me like the breeze that blows from Corpus Christi She is to me like the breeze that blows up from the sea Now if she is like the breeze that blows from Corpus Christi Then I must be like the trees 'cause Caroline blows through me Wind und Langeweile. Habe nix zu ergänzen.

Joe Ely wird bei the Clash gename-checked, tourt mit Springsteen und den Stones, ich dachte das sei so ne Alt-Country Legende aber der macht einfach bock Standard Honky Tonk Country Poprock. Vielleicht ist das wie bei den Dexys und Fats Domino und in dieser Woche sind nur Künstler die live wild und auf Platte lame sind.

Alabama, Arkansas, West Texas Nervtötung

This is what a country album should sound like.