Guitar Town

For fuck's sake... There's an actual track called 'Hillbilly Highway'. God, I hate this genre. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ in part Revisit ❌️ ★☆☆☆☆(2/10) Total reviewed : 447 Already owned : 99 Purchased : 25 To buy : 1 Nope : 322

The worst sort of dreary American folky country music.

I went to guitar town. And saw a guitar. Pretty sweet. Lots of great songs

I can't imagine there's any version of "honky tonk" that any person, ever, needs to hear before they die. 1/5

I felt like this album started out promising, but the third song took a hard turn into cheesy country music territory which it never left.

I’m sure there are country records that do more interesting things and would have been better picks, why this one? 1 listen Favorite Tracks: Title Track, Fearless Heart

Perfectly competent album of music that doesn't do anything for me. First few songs are the best, short and punchy, but then it settles into bog standard modern country.

Not sure if it counts as country music, or that Southern Rock like zz top. There was a fair amount of twang in the guitar, and a few lines about his truck. Good singer/song writer; could appreciate the sound even if I want getting into it much

It’s ok. Definitely dated.

Idgaf this was so good

Love Steve Earle, and this is a great album. Not my #1, but a regular in my rotation. I like his voice now… he’s got the sand! Try Ghosts of West Virginia to get the latest flavor. Hope he lasts forever.

It's good to be exposed to more country, a genre I really don't know. This album is slightly twangy but not overly so. Decent listen.

There is something so middle-of-the-road about this album that I already sort of forget it, despite having just finished it. Tempted to go 2, but there is nothing bad about it, and at least Earle doesn’t appear on this list a million times.

Wait, where's Copperhead Road? I want me some Copperhead Road... this is some Bullshit! Hey Steve, I like your son's music more. But for 80's country it's pretty good. 3.5 Stars.

A really enjoyable album. It employs that style of country that I really like when it's a little 'rockified', but still stays true to country roots. There's only a time or two when some of the flourishes from the 80s are apparent, but even then, they don't detract too much from the sound. I can totally see this being an influence for the alt.country sound.

It’s pretty ok. Not offensively bad.

Actually pretty decent.

Still annoyed by how shitty his version of the Wire theme song is.

Like this music, but need to delve deeper into the songwriting

Seems like this might be a foundational text for much of modern country music, except this is real blue collar material and the lyrics weren’t written by AI and filtered through a focus group. This is good, might be very good? A 3 for now; might become a 4 after a second listen.

Enjoyed it

Albums have been so good recently im kinda relieved to get a super mediocre album. I can actually keep listening to the albums I’ve discovered recently through this instead of adding another to the list. So thank you Guitar Town, for being meh.

Another country album that I would consider acceptable at the very least. There’s some pleasant, well written songs here. Favorite track: Guitar Town

I didn’t enjoy this at all. Guy’s voice is all over the place. 2/10

Pretty fun and danceable country album. Reminded me of that one Key and Peele sketch

man its like some kind of Guitar Town in here...

a country album that is listenable to a rock fan.

Oh great, more corny, twangy, drawly 80s country about home towns and honky tonk shite. If you've heard one, you've heard em all. Inoffensive, generic, boring list filler. Being forced to listen to country music is like being forced to watch a school play when your kid has no lines. It's all a very unconvincing act. Get your big hat and boots, put awn the voice, sing about yer grandaddy n a dirt road and watch as obese gun-toting morons make you richer than god.

Similar style to John Cougar and a mellow Bruce. turns the knob up on country. Guitar is great, but the rest of the band is weak.

sappy

Meh.

Kinda wild this was a Nashville MCA record, nowadays it would *maybe* end up a self-released venture that goes wide after a few years. And it was already a throwback in 1986! This is pretty good and Earle confidently moves between heartland rock (before that was a term) working class laments to mournful heartbreak without losing any of his essential qualities as a singer. It’s ultimately not my bag, but I wish I had been more aware of this at a younger age since I was definitely listening to the radio and watching MTV a whole bunch in 1986 and never knew about Steve Earle until Stephin Merritt referenced him on 69 Love Songs. Also the bridge on Good Ol’ Boy quoting Joe Jackson was a real WTF? moment.

yeehaw

no

This is a classic, and Steve Earle is a treasure. The album deserves to be here, but so do several dozen other country albums that aren’t here. This isn’t even Steve Earle’s best album! It just took us by the throat as an introduction to him.

Nice

Just not for me.

Good country style album

Oh God Why

Dear God please make it stop

perfectly acceptable no-frills country album. Steve will grow as an artist though, and I hope some of his later albums will show up eventually. 3/5.

2.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/steve-earle/guitar-town/ Meh, doesn't do much for me. Some nice americana songs here and there, but overall not my genre.

Country, mal nicht weichgespült. Klasse Album!

It was a fun country rock album that had yacht rock vibes somehow? It was foot tapping music

It was fine. Some good old fashioned pre-9/11 country.

We all have bad days at work. Today’s was the person who picked this for 1001 albums to listen to before you die.

Thought this was butts

Steve Earle took country music and added a bit of Heartland Rock to it. Instead of the cowboy motifs he made it a blue collar, factory worker version with inspiration from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger. Great album.

If this was the only country music I knew, I also wouldn’t really like it

Not too bad as far as country albums go

In what world is this essential? I'll admit that Steve Earle occasionally sounds vaguely like Bruce Springsteen, but it's mostly contemporary country garbage. I was embarrassed to be listening to this.

Solid, country.

I was surprised I liked this one!

Good oul boys, hillbillys and moonshine yeee harrrrr. I liked this more than I thought it's twangy and catchy. A bit clichéd but nothing offensive a good foot tapper.

No fav song

Really good record, this.

Steve Earle has a nice voice and a good band with him, and I’m not averse to the pitch of heartland rock but make it really country, but it does feel a lot like a kid putting on his parents’ clothes and playing at being an adult. He’s not got the lyrical chops of a Springsteen, and the arrangements aren’t really interesting enough to make something of it on that side. It works out fine, it’s enjoyable enough as a listen one time, but I don’t think there’s much to really rush back to and mull over.

A good 80s country album. Still not something I come back to often, but this is much better than alot of country I've listened to.

Guitar town's population certainly does not include me. ★★

A little too country

I have very few exceptions for listening to and enjoying country music. Steve Earle unfortunately didn’t make that cut.

Pretty uninteresting. It’s a rockier stereotypical country sound for the most part, and although this means it wasn’t an awful listen nothing stuck with me.

Like a more country and not as good version of Bruce Springsteen. It’s incredibly corny too, with the inherent corniness of country music (twangy guitars, steel guitars, drawled vocals and very cliched lyrics) boosted by the added corniness of 80s pop production (reverb-heavy drums, some very out-of-place electric pianos/synths). That said, it was perfectly pleasant stuff and reasonably enjoyable in the moment. I doubt whether any of the songs have any real sticking power, however. The more upbeat songs were better than the more ballad-type tracks, though. It’s just about good enough for (a slightly generous) low 3 stars.

What the fuck is this? Is this a fucking joke? The most derivative, MAGA chud lovin’ country and western shite that gets hardcore republican. Fox News viewers rock hard. 1/5

Love it! Good guitar tunes.

Not a genre I usually listen to, but this one was pretty good.

This album hit me right where every track lands like a small victory lap, proof that his songwriting grit and heart-on-sleeve storytelling still hit with the same steady force they always have. I normally don't listen to words, he grabbed my attention.

oh cool, first time in a while we got an artist i haven't heard of at all, i wonder if it will be good! wait, what's that u say? its yet another perfectly generic country rock album? fuck !! yeah idk about this one man.. the first couple tracks had me thinking this might be a "bruce springsteen but worse" situation but even that much was overly optimistic. the quality kinda just deteriorates as the album continues until reaching a nadir with the (and i don't use this term lightly) truly cringeworthy ballad "little rock n roller". it really just fucking sucks. im giving it a 2 cos honestly if someone put this on in the background i would probably not even register it, let alone care enough to get mad about being forced to listen to it. but i don't really think u need to listen to this before u die.

Good country, but nothing groundbreaking. 3.5 bumped up to 4.

I’m at a 4, but I really liked this one. It’s just a good straightforward country album. A little more ‘heartland’ than pure country, but still. Steve Earle’s got a good voice, however plain & distinctly “this guy sure sings country music”-y it might feel. Instrumentally, it feels like a softer & pulled back take on Springsteen’s brand of Americana, blended with the ‘80s trends of a George Strait album. It’s a good inbetween phase, and lyrically, I just like what Steve Earle’s got to say. There’s nothing too complex or contrived, nor does he really paint himself as a main character worth emulating. He’s just a guy on the road, living with his touring band (his “Guitar Town”), reflecting on what got him to this point & what he wants to do with himself. A lot of it is rooted in small-town, slice of life stuff, and as someone practically stuck in the environments he’s singing about, I just found myself easily picturing this whole album. It really is just that simple for me. I understand the critiques on the site & the rating; objectively, this is not doing anything to re-invent the wheel. Steve Earle is not the first person to suffer heartbreak & leave his dusty hometown behind for a larger life, and certainly not in this genre. He’s not the first to miss his kid growing up, or failing to live up to the expectations of his family line. If you have no love for the genre to begin with, these will feel like cookie-cutter tracks that anyone could write & sing, and that criticism is fair through certain lenses. However, it’s not one that’s fair to mine. I’ve heard a lot of bad country music. If you don’t have the talent, it’s easy to fuck up a country song. It takes talent to make music that feels this easily digestible & still carries a pretty solid sense of emotional weight. It’s hard to make this album, however simple it might seem. Ultimately, that lack of re-inventing the wheel mixed with just a bit of overlap in the tracks is what has me at a 4, but I’d still very much recommend it. This isn’t a concept album, but I’d say there’s enough of a throughline to paint a weaving narrative throughout. If it were me, I would’ve flipped the last two tracks, just because “Little Rock ‘n’ Roller” felt like a better emotional climax to end on, but that’s my only nitpick here. I think it’s a good one, and while I can’t really go up to a 5 (as much as I want to out of spite), I just find myself charmed. Is it an album you NEED to hear before you die? Honestly, I can't even say. However, for my tastes, I’m very glad this is on the list.

Not a country fan

Guitar town. Oh some fun country! Nice. Solid crooning country. Big fan of this vibe. Not much else to say about it just a solid country album. Fun enjoyable easy listening. Nothing special. Favourite: Down The Road Least favourite: Fearless Heart

Musicality- 0.7 Vocals - 0.7 Vibes - 0.5 Listen to again - 0.1 Execution - 0.6 Total - 2.6

Hey, it's the guy from The Wire!

Too country fo rme

i didn't hate it. he kinda feels like wario bruce springsteen

OK so here's my thing with country music: it rarely feels authentic to me. I have zero twang in my speech so I'm no expert but Earle sounds like he's playing at being from the Ozarks or Appalachia on Guitar Town. Dwight Yoakam's honky-tonk songs were cringe-y but I felt that his voice was true. There's also too much Springsteen and Mellencamp in the production of this album. "Little Rock 'n' Roller" is shit.

Kinda sleepy, but good countey/blues

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it was fine? like I don't think I'll listen to it again ever tbh

Okay album, nothing really stuck w me. But it was pleasant :)

Like classic country.

I was hoping that maybe this album wouldn't be as boring as it sounds. Y'know, like, maybe it would be a little more lively than something called "Guitar Town" by a guy with two first names. I know better now.

Im very open to almost any genre of music, but god I cannot fucking stand this hokey country music bollocks. I knew immediately from the first song I’d hate this one

A lovely collection of country/singer-songwriter music. Steve has the kind of voice that you immediately want to believe. He sounds truthful without being heavy handed. The production was really nice, everything was crisp and distinct, and the team wasn't afraid to let things be sparse or silent when the songs needed them to be. Nice work.

I knew nothing about this artist going in. I may not have sought it out on my own, but this was actually pretty great. (Full disclosure, I am 4 days away from taking a 16 day road trip through the American southwest, so I consider this just good timing.) I might need more from Steve Earle.

I might be too european for this…

Pretty good pre stadium country. Loved the bruce springsteen cover at the end there, but most of this was just blase country. Had some charm but lost it with just being plain.

Liked this better than I expected

2 out of 5. Pretty generic, not sure why this is on here.

I wanted to like it more, because I do appreciate Steve Earle, but it didn’t quite have the impact I was yearning for. This was a pretty standard Americana album to me.

3/5

Didn't care much for first half of the record Second half was really good

I mean it’s Americana but it wasn’t anything that really caught my ear.

I thought I was going to like this more than I did, it wasn't bad but nothing really stuck out to me, and everything sounded a little thin to me.

7/10 - great length album, decent country, a bonus point for Steve being on the Wire of course

Better than Coldplay

Good old rock and roll

One of my intros to Americana music. This is a great record and a game changer

Country, I can’t abide country. When I got married we hired a DJ, I said ‘if you play any country I’m not paying you’, he laughed so I repeated ‘If you play any country I’m not paying you’. This is the sort of thing I was trying to avoid.