Honky Tonk Masquerade

I love good country music. This is not good country music.

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.

Punanska kantria tämä oli

Fine pretty boring

Solid, lush country Favourite tracks: Boxcars, Honky Tonk Masquerade, I'll Be Your Fool

A serviceable country album, this is the kind of generic music you'd hear in some dusty bar in the middle of nowhere Texas. Not much to this one, the songs and artist are both fine, so I won't put much effort in beyond that. If you like older country, you'll like it; lots of chuds in the reviews just automatically hate it because it's country music, without even listening, and that's disappointing, because even I give every electronica album a chance. 3/5

Sehr krass country. Isch nöd so mis aber ich check das es uf dere liste isch. Ich denke für en country künschtler isch es es sehr guetes Album und ich chan mer au vorstelle wie anderi das gnüssed, aber ich finds eif nöd geil

This was a fun album. Kind of a hard left on Fingernails, but overall very enjoyable. Good thing nobody foisted Joe Ely on me like u2 did.

I don't know what y'all are talking about, that was fun as hell. Short, sweet, honky tonkin good time

#70 Saw the genre, didn't listen

This is only the 2nd album I’ve come across that makes me glad I’m doing this. Late 60s to early 80s was a great time for country music and this guy is really good.

didn't expect to enjoy another country record from this list to this level, but this is awesome; another album which i'd say is very close to a 4/5. the frequently employed rock elements are an excellent addition.

TL;DR: Country-rock with plenty of energy and a healthy amount of weirdness, despite the odd dull track. BEFORE: Never heard of him. I'm always wary of country but even if I don't like it this looks mercifully short. AFTER: This guy really likes honky tonks. A few tracks here are almost psychedelic, and some of the arrangements and instrumentation are a cut above bog-standard country rock although the middle section of the album is a bit more generic. HIGHLIGHTS: Cornbread Moon is fast and unpredictable with multiple sections. Boxcars is sinister with distorted lead guitar line that sounds more like new-wave than country, including a fantastic solo. I'll Be Your Fool takes some vocal risks that elevate a simple composition. West Texas Waltz and Honky Tonkin' are fun with a few musical surprises, including that weird lead guitar coming back on the latter. LOWLIGHTS: I don't feel like all of the accordion was necessary. Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown and the title track are a bit nondescript. Fingernails is standard issue boogie-woogie with weird lyrics and some kind of electronic organ at the end. OTHER: Jericho sounds like the theme song of a weird biblical sitcom and I can't work out if that's good or bad but I'm leaning towards good. VERDICT: There is some interesting stuff on here and a few songs that won me over. I'm giving it a 4, mostly because there is some weird stuff here that I really liked and probably a little more if I keep listening.

Rätt så intetsägande country

Disco mediano, apresentando canções country ordinárias.

okay

This is a country album mixed with some sort of honky tonk bluesy undertone. It’s still country and I am not a fan of that genre and no amount of blues undertone is going to change that! Not my cup of tea but I did make it to the end as it’s mercifully quite short!

Joe Ely was a singer-songwriter at the forefront of Austin's eclectic country-rock scene. He started his music career in the country band The Flatlanders with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, though they broke up after one year and wouldn't reunite until decades later. But Joe carried on, releasing two solo albums, including this one, Honky Tonk Masquerade. While playing in London, Joe befriended The Clash of all bands. They were so impressed with each other that Joe Ely wound up opening for The Clash during their London Calling tour. This partnership would last through the rest of The Clash's career, including Joe Ely's appearance in the gang vocals on "Should I Stay or Should I Go". So yeah, Joe Ely got a lot of notoriety and inclusion in the 1001 Albums books because of his connection to The Clash. Does it once again feed into the UK bias that Robert Dimery and his editorial team lean on? Yes, and it's hard to deny that. But here's the thing - I do recognize the artistic merit of Joe Ely and his backing band, between Joe's smooth vocal delivery, Lloyd Maines's prominent steel guitar flourishes, Ponty Bone's emphatic accordion playing, and Shane Keister's Moog synth nestled into the mix without overwhelming the other instruments, all while the band played around with complex song structures. It's more progressive than your average honky-tonk music, which I dig. Sure, some songs and lyrics get cheesy, such as Joe comparing the moon to cornbread, using the biblical fall of the Walls of Jericho as a metaphor for a woman to enjoy the moment, and wanting to keep his fingernails long so they click when he plays the piano. Not to mention, there's an admittedly on-the-nose cover of an old Hank Williams tune in "Honky Tonkin'". But these songs are delivered with such earnestness and unassuming nature that I can't help but be smitten, especially with the more pensive deep cuts like "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown" and "Boxcars, the latter opposite that warm synth motif. So yeah, I had a good time at this Honky Tonk Masquerade that Joe Ely held. Joe enjoyed a long, successful music career until his passing last year from a bout with Parkinson's, dementia, and pneumonia. Rest in peace.

Never heard of this before and it was ok!

Oh... THAT is just bad country.

Hillbilly musix

I really vibed with this album, the bridge between country and blues made this a really smooth listen, and as soon as it finished I started it all over again

10/26/26. Country isn't my genre but appreciated hearing straightforward songs that sound just like the title of the album! I imagine this is what classic country sounds like but could be very wrong.

Fuck this shit, not listening to any other country album, fuck it! Go fuck yourselfs, you fucking country westerners pieces of shit In my mind I'm giving this a round zeroooooooooooooo

I've come to realise over time that there was a shift in recording quality in the mid-70s and this sounds nice sure, but so did everything else that cared to in the late 70s onwards. It's well-played. It's well-worn in style in that it's very derivative of every other country artist ever. It's not bad, it's not good, it's just average. Wild inclusion for the list.

Pretty good album with the exception of the “Fingernails” song. Hard to get past that one.

A lot of modern country influence in this one I feel like, which is interesting since based on reading about the artist, it seems like the goal is to push back on some of the up-and-coming Nashville sound. I found the lyrics to be a bit repetitive as well, just not much on here to grab me. West Texas waltz was one of the better tunes on there.

Väldigt tråkigt sound. Ointressanta låtar. Lama texter. Inget för mig! 1/5

Durch das Rockige wird's ganz erträglich.

Das Genre, das bei uns in der Gruppe scheinbar am schwierigsten hat. Hat mich schnell verlassen, vom Grundsatz her aber nicht vollkommen nervig, was schon mal mehr als der meiste Country für mich leistet.

This album sucked!

Very honky Tonk! Top bops: Tonight I think I’m gonna go downtown West Texas waltz Honky tonkin’

achei bom, só não é tanto meu estilo mesmo

country normalzinho

Don't tell enyone, but I kinda liked this one. Favorite track: Because Of The Wind

I tend to be a bit meh on a decent amount of older country but this shit slaps. 8/10

This was some pretty classic straightforward country music, but… that didn’t really impress me. A few dashes of zydeco and a Hank Williams cover, but it still felt like a slog.

It was a decent country album! I like country just fine. But I am going to forget about this as soon as I vote and see the next album. :/ 2.5 stars, because it is just about as neutral as it gets for me.

Not my favourite genre but was enjoyable enough

While not a virgin to country music, I’m also not experienced either. This was fun, very bouncy honky Tonk country music. I like it.

Decent country album. A couple of decent songs but some too country for my taste. Not bad though.

I swear the one genre of music I have always been more than impressed with during my entire dive into the 1001 albums to hear before you die list is all of the Country picks. Joe Ely's Honky Tonk Masquerade is once again another addition to these picks blowing my mind in terms of quality. This album comes swinging with a lot of very catchy and fun Outlaw Country tracks that really know how to have a good time with itself. The instrumentation is quite enjoyable and the singing by Joe Ely does the trick in winning you over into having a grand ol' time with this snappy 33 minute project. Not much to say here other than to see it for yourself because this is a blast!

Great older country I had not heard before.

Consider my tonks honked

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

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

Needed a little more Tonk and a little less Honk. Really liked the first song but found it pretty inconsistent after that.

3.0 A touch disappointed in this one, I thought it was over produced for what it is. Songs are solid, if not a bit standard

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

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.

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.

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.

1 stern

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.