Guitar Town

1.5 - Bad

Not offensively bad or anything, but not my jam.

Super meh. Country has to be extra good for me to enjoy it. I did not need to hear this album before I died.

#160/1001. I am super glad I got to listen to this album before I died so I can tell the rock and roll angel in the afterlife that "Hey, I already listened to this in my previous life, so could you please shut that off".

Better than most 80s country. I like the song fearless heart.

Love Steve Earle, but mostly his way later stuff, this early ballad country ain't for me.

Day658 - freakin guitar town sounds as cool today as it did forty years ago

I am not fan of country but it was quite good.

How about "Shit Town" 1.5

Country. It was nice, wasn't it. Nothing extraordinary, but it was a good listen.

A town worth passing through, perhaps, though not one I intend on spending more time in.

It just felt oddly false.

This album was a bit too country twang for me. Sounded like John Cougar Melloncamp with a cowboy hat. Didn’t hate it, just not for me. 5/10

This makes me feel like I'm in a smoky, dimly lit, bar where everyone's calling me slurs. I'm not finishing this

This is the evolutionary link between Footloose and Billy Ray Cyrus. This is a little more hick than I like my country but it was a decent listen.

This is some good heartland country rock. I feel like this is the sound track to that fictional America people have in their heads when they talk about how things used to be. But this album is mostly about how fucked up thay place is.

As far as country goes, this is allright.

i like wilco and finally i got an album with lyrics so excited to listen jk this album kinda mid theres like 3 good songs

It was ok.

Not his best stuff, but still better than most pop country out there now.

Giving it a two I know the floor for country is so much lower & this wasn’t fully atrocious. Also this guy says he’s a socialist. So bonus star.

Didn’t hate Bruce Springtwang but it did sound like AI music from the 80’s.

OK.

Thankful for a country music break amidst my recent algorithm picks. Classic!

It's not even that bad, but it's so country it's kinda unbelievable. Not really my thing but I'm sure some people like it.

That’s some pure 80s country right there. Nashville twang. I liked it

Strong songs that to my ear weren't enhanced by MOR 80's pop production. Still, some very memorable numbers.

461/1001 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑

This was very boring country rock. I know there's a link to the wiki page, and perhaps I should start reading it because I don't see why this was so great

Very good

Straight up country. Not my thing but the guitar was good. 3.8

So country. So very country.

Pretty alright country, can be a bit samey though. low 3/5

no amount of tennessee blood in my veins will make me like this, just let dolly do it

Yee-Haw! Let's go down to the swimming hole, with some corn squeezin's and cold frosty beers! We can then hang out with the girls in their daisy dukes and lament on our mis-spent youth!

Another bloody country album!! Admittedly, not quite as clichéd as the others. Was hoping for something more like Copperhead Road, which at least has an edge to it. Not for me.

Country, 29eme album =>1/5

"hillbilly highway"... come now.

couldn't care less about this album. annoying country music

Not bad- kind of a nostalgic country sound

Aardige country, maar ook niet meer dan dat, afgezien van een vrij kansloze poging tot Bruce Springsteen. Geen straf om te luisteren, maar er blijft weinig hangen. We rijden Guitar Town binnen, maar ook weer schouderophalend uit.

Volle country, maar toch zie je niet die man met die gitaar voor je. Het is namelijk ook erg geproduceerd. En dat is geen combinatie. Het wordt gelijk ongeloogwaardig. Luister het eerste nummer voor het sterkste voorbeeld.

Zoals al aangehaald door mijn Brabantse luistervriend (niet te verwarren met onze gezamenlijke Brabantse cuntrymakker), is dit vrij generieke country. Je hoort er overduidelijk de 80s in, want hij had net zo goed op een braderie kunnen staan met alleen zijn gitaar en de rest op tape uit een portable speaker. Of zelfs zonder zijn gitaar, alleen een beetje zingen. Aan de andere kant kan het ook wel weer met complete 8koppige band op een kleine verhoging in de hoek van de bruine dorpskroeg gepropt, waarbij je je dan bij de helft vd bandleden afvraagt of en zo ja welk instrument ze dan bespelen. Maar ja, iemand moet de triangel of de tamboerijn vasthouden. Ik vind country er altijd wel makkelijk ingaan, dus je komt al snel op een 3 uit. Er zit weinig bij dat niet vergeetbaar is, dus ook dan kom je al snel op een 3 uit. Laat ik dan maar gewoon snel op de knop van 3 sterretjes drukken, voordat ik door heb dat het allemaal maar heel magertjes is.

I think it was okay like I like it but I also don't.

I believe Rolling Stone magazine probably would have called this “an assured debut.” I call it fckn rad!

Would love to see this album score a film about a 55 year old date-rapist called ‘Chive’ who gets sentenced to 30 years jail and learns absolutely nothing

Okay...

Not my thing, but I heard elements of classic country. Maybe even Hank Williams. I also had a sense of everyman hardships, a la Springsteen or John Mellencamp. Not a lot of range, though, musically or lyrically.

Bit of a jump scare with the Apple Music profile pic of Earle. But you know what? This is solid.

Springsteen-ass loverboy cowboy

Steve Earle is not for me and that’s ok.

A little too rocky for my taste in country. Starts veering towards proto bro-country

Poppy country. Why is this on the list?

Chill

Enjoyable to some degree, definitely more rock orientated country music which made it easier to listen to. Solid 6/10

3/5

Someday is a banger but the rest is standard country.

Good album! Catchy rhythms and easy to nod along too. First time hearing Steve Earle and I will look into him further.

So many good memories. Bridging genres between classic country, which was still very much THE country scene in 86, and combining the sounds of early era rock n roll at a time when hair bands and one hit new wave bands were all the rage, was a bright spot in the mid 80s. Steve Earle did as much as anyone, and more than most, to transform country music as we know it today (whether he’d be happy where it ended up is another tale).

Didn’t mind some of it but some terrible songs on it.

I have a feeling this is the album of Steve Earle’s I should like the most and I like it very little. Too rooty tootin for me. I also need to mention how much I hate the song where a truck driver calls his son from the road. “Hey little guy, can’t believe you answered the phone. I didn’t know you could that”. Maybe the worst song opening in history

Little bit of a Springsteen vibe going on but rock country. $20000 truck. I wish

This is kryptonite to my ears. The guitar tone, vocal inflection, super tight and clean production. That said, I might owe this guy for a bunch of artists I do like.

Not my vibe. Don't drink enough sarsaparilla...

Decent very Bruce Springsteen I like the old rock n roll country american blue collar vibe to it.

It's not great but there is something with Country for me. Nice to have in the background. Is it significant to music history? Is it important for the genre? Do you need to hear this? Like with most entries in this list, No. But it's at least easy to listen to or have in the background.

Sometimes I like my country with a little cheese, so I like this.

Nice country but like nothing special. Not annoying though.

fav songs: Hilbilly Highway

Best country album I've heard in this challenge (granted, that's a low bar)

I didn't hate this but it feels a bit like what you would get if you asked AI to make you a country rock album. Even his accent sounds put-on (especially on Little Rock 'n' Roller, where it gets weirdly Jagger-ish).

So, I hate the country and western sound. This did not dissuade me of this feeling. This is the first album that I didn't listen through (hell, I couldn't get through the first minute of the first track before hitting skip). Just awful.

Couldn’t understand pretty much anything he was saying apart from the odd 'ghee-tarr', 'perdy lady' and other cliched codswallop. Listening to some of the tracks, I can only agree with other reviewers about it sounding more like a parody. And all I could see when I closed my eyes were old people with their thumbs in their belts line dancing. I did find myself tapping my foot on the odd occasion which saves it from a 1. And if a friend was playing this in their house when I visited then I wouldn't ask them to turn it off. And they'd still be my friend. But I never want to hear it again.
 2

Not a bad listen, some good country songwriting

veredito: muito ruim filho pqp

mais rock do que country mas ainda assim é bem country bom pra quem gosta.

Not generally a country fan, but this has some country-rockabilly sounds to it. I have heard the album once before in my youth and remembered liking it. Decades later it still sounds good.

Not my vibe

I respect Steve Earle and he's a survivor. But this is too much country and not enough rock n roll for my tastes.

A fine country album, but some tracks drift just a bit too twangy for my tastes. It’s just not quite where I want my country to sound. I do dig the storytelling - Good Ol’ Boy feels like it tells an story you might even still hear today, and there’s something about a lonesome country song like My Old Friend the Blues that can’t be captured in any other genre. I liked some of the rock elements brought in more towards the back half of the album and liked the journey through heartbreak and loneliness in the middle of the album to the more hopeful and touching back of the album. Standout tracks are My Old Friend the Blues and Good Ol’ Boy.

Favorite tracks: literally none of them 🫠 This sounds like a country album parody, full of "gi-tar", trucks, and country boys. I can't fathom that this is a real album that is popular and still well regarded.

Not a fan of the first/title track, but I thought the second song was ok. Back to disliking the third track. So this is clearly hit or miss for me. But then I really couldn't get into the remaining tracks. I'm just not a fan of "new" country, though I can appreciate that this album includes some Springsteen nods too.

Nothing notable.

Seems to tick every cliché about country music - heavy accented vocals, twangy guitar, the most boring basslines imaginable and songs about trucks and girls. Nothing here I can relate to, but some of the guitar twanging is OK.

I’m a huge Steve Earle fan, but there wasn’t much to grab onto on this one.

Country sucks, populism sucks. But I guess these days it doesn't pay to be a Good Ol' Boy. Cry more.

he just played at one of my venues over the summer but i didn't go. solid album just classic shit. 6/10

A lot of cowboy chords for a country album called Guitar Town

Maybe this is just so iconic that listening to it feels like a parody of country music? Anyway, not my thing at all.

Solidly Country. I'm not really a country fan but I've definitely listened to worse than this over the course of this project.

Very strong album. A bit cheesy in places, but Steve Earle can sure write the hell out of a song.

I like early country, Merle, Johnny, that sort of thing. It's rare for me to like more modern country, and this wasn't any exception. This album is fine, but I didn't think it was anything special.

Tough listen. Theres a very specific type of country music I enjoy and this is not it. Can see why the album was significant for the time and why its on the list but that doesn't make it an enjoyable listen. 2/5.

Each song sounds like it might be playing on loop at Cabella’s.

Really striking. I'd heard of Steve Earle but never listened to him. Listening to all the albums on this list is often (too often) an academic exercise. But this actually affected me emotionally. Surprising and effective songs. Sincere work in a vast sea of insincerity - if I hear Irish guys using a fake twang ever again (or even Elvis Costello, for that matter), I'm just going to put this album on and try to put it out of my mind.

It’s a nice record, but it didn’t pull me in.

As far as country goes, it's not bad. But it's still country. The nasal voice and such are hard to get over for me, and it's always so bland and formulaic. Copperhead road is a decent track, but that's not on this album. Not that this is too different from that, so I guess for people who like country rock this is good. Tough for me to get into though. 2/5

Right off the bat I can appreciate that this isn’t boring classic country. There’s a real sense that Steve Earle is trying to write pop-country-rock hits. While the combination of those three words makes me physically ill. Now, I can appreciate that for the country community, his music leans pretty heavily towards rock music, it is not quite far enough for me to get into it. I think his lyrics on songs like “lil rock ‘n’ roller” are adorable and endearing, so he’s a talented lyricist. The real problem is I just don’t really care for country and this is like crowd pleasing, classic country with light rock elements. Honestly it’s not for me but it’s not offensively bad.

The only problem with this album is that some of the songs in particular the ones that I assume the record company thought would be bigger singles have a kid 80s "tinny" country music sound like a Ricky Van Shelton. Steve Earle is not Bruce Springsteen. He is his own artist and as great as this is he probably has 5 or 6 better albums.

I've liked other country albums on this list better

I love Steve Earle. Such great songs, such great aesthetic. There's some tongue in cheep combined with true, deep emotion. Seems like there's a lot of coping going on.

Poo

Couldn't finish

Late 80s, early 90s country like this is why for years I said I hated country. This stinks.

Charming guitar, a little country sound

Good Country rock w/ heartland 80s rock vibes 3.5 rounded to 4

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I am not a fan of most modern country, but I grew up with a granddad who loved country. He listened to basically everything from the 40's right on through to the earl 80's. His country tastes more or less stopped with anything that came after the "Outlaw Country" of the late 70's early 80's and I more or less inherited his tastes. But i wish he had heard Steve Earle. I know he hadn't because if he had we both would have been big fans. This is just great country/blues, ol' time rock n' roll music by an amazing songwriter. I now consider myself a Steve Earle fan an look forward to exploring the rest of his catalogue.

howdy partner yeeeahaww whatever

I loved this album. Dude can write a song. I hope this isn't insulting - because it's not meant that way - but I can't decide if Steve's not putting on a character with the over the top accent and twangy guitar. It seem so put on and so authentic at the same time. Gonna be listening to this one a whole lot .

Good 50s country from the 80s.

"Oh we got both kinds: country *and* western!"

I hate country but this shit slaps

This album reminds me a lot of CCR. Smooth singing with a good voice and a country-ish sound. I really enjoyed it!

Weird album. Feels like it's in between a bunch of stuff I do like, but this does nothing for me. A little too country, a little too 80s rock, a little too 60s nashville, a little too troubadour, a little too slick, a little too rough? Obviously talented and well-composed and it seems like this is a good dude, but I think I'd put my energy elsewhere. Gonna check out his other stuff to see where he evolved, because I'm sure it's somewhere more at the edges than this, at the center.

Country music....Listened several times. Don't know why it's on the list. Not even his most highly regarded album. Not my jam. Pitchfork: n/a Rolling Stone: Top 500 Albums #489 (2003), now not ranked (2020) Best Songs Guitar Town

I liked dis

I didn't like it at all. The country accent was too thick. The guitar too twangy. Nothing for me here.

Ziemlich entspannt und mit viel Blues im Country Zum Autofahren??

Nicely produced but modern country is just not my thing. Did not really get anything out of this.

It's not the worst country I've ever heard, but I'm not sure why it's on the list. 2.8

Mientras más discos de country me salen en esta lista, más me enamoro del género,. Steve Earle no es la excepción y entrega un álbum lleno de un country un tanto más rocker de lo que había escuchado antes, pero la mezcla me encantó. Quiero escuchar más de Earle.

This feels like a major missed opportunity to me. Steve Earle did bluegrass on some of his later work and that would have been a more interesting inclusion. Unfortunately we are stuck with this cornball country rock. Like it’s fine enough but some of these lyrics are just kinda groan worthy. Favorite song was Hillbilly Highway.

Average and quite catchy.

It’s hard to like an album if you hate the genre it’s based off of - I am not a fan of country one bit. Whilst this is a good demonstration of the genre and nice playing from the guitar - I just can’t like it.

Typical Country music, I have no idea why the list makers chose this pick, but you know it is country. I had this on shuffle and had no idea that I did until the last song, and honestly, I really don't need to hear this again.

I can’t find what’s special about it. Just ok.

Goat

The album didn't really do much for me. Was decent enough country music, but there wasn't anything remarkable. I just had it on in the background after 2 tracks which says it all...

I really enjoyed this one. This may be country but it’s just on the verge of rockabilly. I’m going to listen to the next couple records, as well.

2.5 stars. Standout is "Hillbilly Highway" super catchy steel guitar. The rest feels like it needs to pick a lane, too hick for rock but doesn't fully commit to country and western. Cheesy songs like "Little Rock 'N' Roller" really bring it down.

Ein bisschen Country

This is satire right? Like it is way to on the nose for country music to be legit. Seriously the first song has city names, a truck stop, boots and pretty baby. It has to be making fun right? Alright I think this is the the county album that combined ALL of the tropes. It has it all so far. If he sings about his dog, trailer or tornado I'm out, I will not finish the album. This album is kind of amazing, I swear it hits all the country themes before 9/11. It's almost a parody of itself how far it goes. I'm not convinced Steve isn't having fun with it. He had to have sat down and went, "I will write the MOST country album ever!" Some producer heard the demo and told him yes and this album was born. What's wild is it's not bad, dude can play, the band is solid, good production, the lyrics are.....very county & western. If you're into the genre you will probably love it. I'm giving it a three because I enjoyed it but not for the reason I'm supposed to..

I didn’t hate ‘Guitar Town’ anywhere near as much as I thought I would. In fact, I didn’t hate it at all. I mean it’s derivative and leans heavily into that Bruce Springsteen Americana sound and style, but that’s what makes it grab your attention. It’s calculated for sure, but at least it makes for a listenable album. Surprisingly so.

Not totally awful, but a bit insipid

Awesome

Fun album. Sits somewhere in that rock/country music mix.

An enjoyable enough listen without really leaving its mark on society...

Opens strong but devolves into basic country.

Cheese cheese cheese.

pretty good debut album from alt country singer/songwriter steve earle.

Not my favorite Steve Earle but it’s got some good ones on there.

Solid, more of a Copperhead Road guy, but loved hearing some of Earle’s earlier music.

This one is not my type of music but I didn't hate it. 3 stars.

Simple, quality country. This was a welcome change from recent entries. Focused and consistent but not repetitive. Fearless Heart was the standout.

I feel like this is the original alt-country album. Steve Earle has never gotten the visibility and recognition that this album proves he deserves.

A fun, efficient, album. He is unrecognizable to me on this cover given what he looks like now. I hear the influence of Bruce (seriously, listen to "Guitar Man" and "Working on the Highway" back to back), Tom Petty, and John Mellencamp in addition to the classic country he must have grown up with.

It was fine

Steve Earle is great. Maybe an icon of contemporary American music. A living legend for sure, and a legitimately deep inspiration for fuckups the world over. Unfortunately, most of his albums are not so great. 80s and 90s mainstream country production styles did not serve him well. He would have done better in the underground, but he was born too soon - there was no Alt-Country or Americana genres when he was coming up, even though now he's revered by those camps. The record he put out after he got out of jail is very strong and although I lost track of his career after that, I suspect his work ever since does a much better job of putting his songs into the musical settings they deserve, as opposed to the overproduced, thin sounds of albums like Guitar Town. I get the impression that serving time released him from the stifling constraints of the Nashvegas celebrity machine. Prison freed him, funnily enough. Despite that, on occasion his superior songwriting shines through, as it does on the title and a couple of others in this, his debut album.

I mainly know of Steve Earle from his "Copperhead Road" fame, so it's fun to get a full album without a single mention of Copperhead road, although I'll admit he doesn't have a huge range, so all of his songs kind of blend into each other to some degree (although "Little rock 'n' roller" unfortunately distinguishes itself as being atrociously syrupy). The strongest tracks on this album are also the singles, especially "Guitar town", "Hillbilly highway" (just down the way from Copperhead Rd, I'm sure), and "Someday" (very Bruce Springsteen-esque, down to the video). I'm also impressed that he wrote (and played) "My old friend the blues," which I first heard by The Proclaimers, and I still prefer their version. Overall, though, nice to have Steve Earle in this collection.

New to me: album kicks off to a great start and keeps up the quality with a few dips into sentimental stuff that's not quite as interesting (Little Rock 'n Roller). Reminds me of when I first hear Randy Travis's album "Old 8 X 10"--a handful of really good country.

Awful.

Would like this if I was a drunk texan.

4.1

Nope

There is much better country music to put on this list. This is okay. The guitar is good.

One word: meh

Totally mid. Did nothing for me. I don’t see why this is supposed to be influential or important.

another day, another "meh" album. offensive, annoying, or painful to listen to -not at all. boring & forgettable-yup

I feel so lame when my favorite song is the starred song. Makes me feel like I fell for something. Lol. But I was really searching for something to like about this album

Cool country with a guitar emphasis

It’s a country album. The fact that any nominations it achieved for any awards were in specifically country sections suggests the cross-over of this, of much of the genre, is non-existent. I wouldn’t listen to this again, but then I wouldn’t have listened to it in the first place had it not been on this list as it’s country music. I didn’t think I’d need to listen to this before I died and I was proved right. 1 star.

Decent but not special at all, in my opinion. Somewhere between 2 and 3 for me

Steve puts out incredible work on this release (not unlike the quality of his other releases). A product of his influences combined with a stellar skill at writing and performing, talent is in his blood.

Generic country

Fun.

The usual 2 stars not for me.

On the too cheesy side of fine, so just fell into the 2 zone at the end.

Better than I would have expected.

Given this is called Guitar Town I was hoping for some really cool guitar solos or similar. Unfortunately this did not deliver. Was just very generic boring blandness. Completely inoffensive but so vanilla

Country music is so boring. I don't mind if there's great singing or guitar but this has neither. This is just so bland. I bet Elliot Smith likes it

Personally I prefer Steve Earl's acting over his music. Having said that, it's not bad for a debut album especially.

It was okay, not my favorite country album.

Som bem legal, uma música country bem melódica e marcante

Sounded like a rock music with a country singer.

I can appreciate the modern country, but I was bored, sorry 🤷‍♀️ Highlights: Guitar Town

Catchy and well executed.

This kinda seems like easy listening country, super cheesy . Dude fucking hates trump though so that’s an extra star in my book!!

Y'know I really wanted to like this album, but this ended up being one of the most forgettable in the entire list. 3rd time listening to this and again almost nothing stands out. "Down the Road" is incredible though. Saves it from a 1 star

I remember digging this back in 198-whatever and it's still pretty darn great. Interesting, though, how much it sounds like Born in the USA, which I'd never noticed before. Wonder how that happened. Is that what the record company wanted? Was it just in the air? Was that what Steve Earle was going for? Not my first pick for a Steve Earle album, but it'll do.

An unholy abomination of Bruce Springsteen meets Kenny Rogers. Even when the lyrics are somewhat profound, like the opening lines of 'Little Rock 'N' Roller', everything still reeks of sheer desperation of getting commercial airplay. Was inclined to give this 2/5, but the awful title and awful cover cements this as a 1/5 album.

I’ve tried to find out, why I really disliked this album for a few days now. Then it got to me. It feels completely dishonest. Steve Earle doesn’t really have anything important to say and the result is an album you definitely don’t need to listen to - ever.

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. Not sure I would have made it past 34 minutes, however.

Pretty typical country music album, nothing special

Pretty fun and light-hearted :]

fine

Country rock - Not my bag

Country rock album, very cool for 1986. Not familiar with Steve Earle discography, but this was enjoyable.

Never getting past that accent

Thoughts before listening: The title track on this album is an all time banger. I really enjoy Steve Earle as a personality and as a singe. However, I certainly prefer this era of his career when he was an up and coming wannabe star writing catchy Texas country rock songs. His later work is fine, but it can be a bit heavy handed at times...even I typically agree with his politics. Review: Great sound by a great performer. It is interesting to me that this is on the list though. I mean it's a classic of the underground alt-country/Americana scene, but I don't necessarily get the impression it's had the reach I'd expect for this list. Guess I was wrong. This is very solid country rock, but other than the title track, nothing really blows me away. That title track however is an all timer. I'll give this 3 stars although its influence and importance to the alt-country scene probably deserves more than that.

NOT what I was expecting Steve Earle to sound like outside of Copperhead Road. A lot more country than I expected.

Good country feel all the way through. Solid album.

Pretty good guitars, quite danceable. The singer's voice is so twangy that it almost seems like a parody of a country singer. I listened to the album twice and it didn't really grow on me. Plus the slower songs are a bit of a snoozefest. But decent overall

Almost like some of it. Had a very Bruce Springsteen vibe to several songs.

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Classic first album, it's been a while since I've listened to this and while I personally prefer some of his output from the mid-90's onwards there's some great stuff on here.

Yes well done you proved your point, you can play guitar.

Copperhead Road is better, but Guitar Town is still great. Earle is the best of latter day outlaw country.

Para quem curte o gênero, deve ser um prato cheio.

Ikke min cowboyhatt

Yuck. This sounds like crappy small-town AM radio.

A decent country-rock album. Tasteful, but not particularly gritty. Pleasant, but won’t leave a lasting impression. “Guitar Town” is a pretty apt title as the guy is clearly quite good at the thing. I must confess that I don’t generally listen much to this type of music, but I’d say it won’t hurt to check out if this sounds up your alley, especially because it is rather short.

decent but repetitive and not very memorable

Not really my thing. Too much country

Not really my thing

-abysmal rhythm -insanely slow tempo -Hard to understand lyrics -Basic ...Honestly I had a slight headache before listening to it and this just made it worse

It’s country boy asking girl to come to guitar town. :/

steve earle's debut is an album i grew up on, and so i perhaps have some disproportionate feelings for it. for me, it's one of my favorite country albums from this era. this album lives somewhere in the middle of early 80s springsteen, john cougar, dwight yoakam, and marshall crenshaw. the one thing that always strikes me is how catchy all these songs are. steve earle has a knack for writing a great hook. the one thing i will knock it for is that the production is a little too mid-80s for my liking, but the songwriting and earle's performance are good enough to outweigh it for me.

A few solid songs, but not enough for me to want to listen to the whole thing.

Surprised myself & enjoyed album.

First impression pre listen: It's been a while since my last country album and I feel genuinely excited to get into this. Yeah it isn't my favourite genre of all time, but it's always fun to challenge one's taste a bit. I've never heard of this artist before and the album name having the word "guitar" in it would usually be a red flag for me. Hoping to be surprised. Individual track notes: Guitar Town Has that iconic Nashville production. Charming guitar. Extremely cliche lyrics. He has a very solid voice. Fine. 3/5 Goodbye's All We've Got Left Kinda don't love the backing track, sounds like a default preset. Solid lyrics, has some unpredictability and cleverness to them. The piano does get pretty good after a while, especially around the final third. Fine. 3/5 Hillbilly Highway Fun sentimental lyrics. Don't really like the chorus. Decent instrumental break. A bit repetitive, gets quite tiresome after a while. Dislike. 2/5 Good Ol' Boy (Gettin' Tough) Cliche. Feels overtly political. Doesn't sound very memorable. I guess it's pretty reflective of its time, could see it being relatable to some. Average. 2.5/5 My Old Friend The Blues I really like the guitar playing at the start, sounds very pretty. I appreciate the more stripped back sound. Would've prefered if they kept it sweet and intimate. They kinda ruined the song with the added instrumentation and the hammed up vocals at the end. Dislike. 2/5 Someday I kinda like the guitar. Cliche lyrics, heard it a thousand times before. Bores me to tears. Strongly dislike. 1.5/5 Think It Over Okay chorus. Bland instrumental. Nothing remarkable, but listenable at least. Average. 2.5/5 Fearless Heart Has a pretty cool instrumental section, where there's a really interesting guitar effect. Otherwise really average, but I guess it bumps it up a bit. Fine. 3/5 Little Rock 'N' Roller Made me check out completely. There's a slide guitar part that is kinda memorable, but overall it's more boring than watching paint dry. Strongly dislike. 1.5/5 Down The Road The acapella intro is pretty nice. Hate that the echo effect persists after the instrumental comes in. I like the mandolin. Average. 2.5/5 Final review. So this album isn't outright terrible at any point, but it's mostly just unremarkable and sometimes even really boring. It's filled to the brim with every single country music cliche you can find, and while cliches can be fine you gotta do something different between them to stand out. And that is something this album generally fails to do. There's a few moments here and there where you'll find a lyric or an instrumental moment which stands out, but otherwise it's predictable and just uninteresting. The Nashville production is very solid, with good musicians delivering decent performances. The vocals are also well performed, with an alright voice to boot. So the songs here are definitely listenable, nothing makes me groan or roll my eyes, but it's just not enough to make it sound distinctly different from other albums of the genre. I wanted to like this heading into it, but it ended up being just OK. 2.5/5 rounded down to a 2/5.

I've mostly known Steve Earle as the guy from Bubbles' rehab sessions. Nice guy, but he went through some heavy stuff - this isn't his heaviest work, though. Last time I heard his music was in the most old-fashioned coffee shop in Amsterdam, so this folk rocker of an album hits a happy spot. Favourite tracks: Goodbye's All We've Got Left, Someday, Down the Road

I love Steve Earle. Not heard this in full before. Not his best and I wish El Corazon was recommended so others could have got more variation. But it has Someday. And Fearless Heart. And it's fun.

turns out i really just can’t do country unless it’s in a cheesy tornado movie

I watched a video on a social media recently when a lady said "you can hate this country music" and played some. Then she said "you could hate this country music" and played something else. It repeated about 10 times with the last line being that you can hate any one or more of them, but you can't hate them all. She was wrong. This is just pants. Play a different bass line, please! Also, do country musicians just put on the weird voice, since it seems to come and go in songs that they ham up? I'd listen to more to find out, but I'd probably hate them too.

Good album! Cool that Joe reps him! 7.1/10

Proper country.

Some classic country, a little cheesy, nothing breaking the mold, but pleasant to listen to

hated the first few songs but then it kind of hit??

No country Boy

It was decent, some twangy guitars and enjoyable songs.

When country stays in it's lane, it's hard to see the light anywhere else

# 508 / 1001 : Guitar Town They've done a pretty decent job. Not a fan of (modern) country music. It's corny and not ground breaking, but there is some good guitar music here that I Liked more than I thought I would. Listened: 23/06/2025

With a few exceptions, the songs on this album could have been written by John Mellencamp had he been raised in Texas instead of Indiana. Very good album.

I normally don't like country. This however, I did. A little bit like Jackson Browne, Steve Earle has a pretty good voice. And the storytelling was good as well.

I'm partial to a bit of country music. I do find myself smiling at the common themes sometimes, my wife and I often make up fake lyrics when country music comes on the radio e.g. my girl left me, but I still got my dog and truck, pour me another whisky etc. Ok, it doesn't sound funny, I get it. Anyway, this is a really nice album, eminently listenable.

It's OK. I prefer his more recent stuff but it's not bad.

a couple of high points - Guitar Town, My Old Friend The Blues - but some pretty ordinary country spread across the rest of the record

Very easy to listen to

One loves the directness and pristine, historically informed approach but it reads a little dry early in the record. "My Old Friend" is great and the last three cuts are strong, too, and maybe slightly more alive (even if some regrettably tinny synth notes sneak in). Transcendental Blues is better but this is still classic and a pleasure to revisit. One's happy that Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam and other traditionalists are out there, teaching us what we need to know and keeping the legacies alive.

Cool country rock album. Fearless Heart is a great song. Very Springteenish but more twang and country.

ganz cool, also auf jeden fall angenehm zum anhören

This did not impress me much. 2/5

Not sure why this must be heard, but it's not bad. It's all pretty average for '80s country. It's also clearly a debut, as it's just a collection of songs rather than having any real album structure. Confident it won't stick with me, and it sure won't get added to my rotation, but at least it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Solid 80s country album. Listened to it passively in one sitting.

Some decent country songs. Not my style but not that bad. Easy listening. 5/10

Nice objectively, but not my type of music.

Fine. Just like every other Country album I’ve listened to

This would be cool on a boat maybe. Currently I'm in a cold dark office and not a boat so.... 4/10

I enjoyed this one

I am a day older than this album. I sure as hell hope I’ve aged better.

Did this have any impact on music back in '86? It certainly didn't have any impact on me today because I don't remember a single note from it.

Hell yeah

I like Steve Earle. I like the breakfasts you get in the truck stops he sings about, but they often need salt, pepper, and a dash of hot sauce. Steve’s music could really use more musical salt and pepper and a big splash of hot sauce.

Solid!

Enjoyable. Steve's voice bridges the Everly Brothers with David Gray.

old country. twangy

I quite liked this one, and reading about Steve Earle as I listened I liked it even more. Good country, very naive of the life that was about to follow him. It was a good mix of up-tempo and more ballad style, and I particularly enjoyed "Little Rock 'N' Roller"

Just really not for me some very annoyingly generic country music.

Kind of sounds like John Mellencamp With a country twang.

Honestly didnt really like this album, I thought it was too slow for me. While I can appreciate the guitar and the singing, It felt hard to get through the album and kept stopping for a while. But funnily enough, the last song was my favorite as I write this.

Hmmm.. State Trooper is blijven hangen, nochtans niet de moeite. De rest van het album hoefde niet.

es un álbum que me pondría de fondo mientras hago cosas. no están mal las canciones pero no lo volvería a escuchar, porque no me gusta el country.

to be fair, this album wasn't thaaaat bad, just a bit dull. i liked some songs but i wouldnt actively play this album for my daily life. maybe its just me but i think americans are the only ones who can actually enjoy these kinds of genres (since its american country and stuff). but, as i said earlier, it couldve been way worse. i loved Fearless Heart, though, it gives off road trip vibes

That was good.

i have been obsessed with the songs hillbilly highway & guitar town but never gave the whole album a listen till now :D

6/10 This could have been worse! Huge swathes of it were route one country rock that didn’t do much for me. But a good chunk was more interesting to me, being country blended with heartland rock - think a country-fied Springsteen. Best: Fearless Heart

Well, I heard Steve Earle had lots of wives / About as many as cats have lives / Met him on his records and we're good friends. He writes a song for everyone / They fall in love and before it's done / He writes an even better one when it ends

Not bad at all. Spirited songs with twanging guitars. Little bit of blues and a lot of heart

This was fine, honestly I just found the music kind of boring and repetitive. Just not my genre I suppose.

Guitar Town is yet another case of an album on this list that is unremarkable but still pretty solid. This album basically is your typical run-of-the-mill 80s folk country rock album that is more or less just like its contemporaries but doesn't really do anything that much better or worse than any of them. The music, vocals and lyrics are all in the same boat with them being neither great or terrible. This album was thankfully pretty quick so it never got to the point of being a super tedious listen. I think this review might actually be shorter than my other ones because i genuinely don't know what else to say about this album. Best Song: Hillbilly Highway Worst Song: Think It Over

80s country honky crap

Love Steve Earle! Guitar Town is the first song on my in-car sing-along playlist.

Not very good. Podunk 80s country. Had a decent beat, but that’s about all I can say for it.

Musical equivalent of comfort food 3.15

Zzzzzzzzzz 2.0

This is so Springsteen-coded that it hurts. Springsteen for my tiny hometown. It's not bad but it's not exceptional either. The lyrics are hackneyed.

dent country album

100% the kind of thing i picture when I think ‘country’. Full of clichés but it doesn’t feel like it takes itself too seriously. Nothing very interesting but entirely inoffensive.

Overraska over kor godt eg likte denne

I like Steve Earle generally, but this was really not my vibe

had some good songs but its very cliche country, that happens to deserve a spot here. Its not really bad, its just not good enough to be more than mediocre. (2.5/5.0)

inget som bet sig fast direkt

Som en high school prom för vuxna

3/5

i hate country but like id probably put this on if i was drivijg to thr middle of nowhere

Dit is voor mij zo'n beetje de meest generieke country die je kunt bedenken. En dat heeft als voordeel dat het ook wel redelijk makkelijk naar binnen glijdt allemaal, ondanks dat er een heel klein Elvis Costellotje in verborgen zit. Dit soort country zou je op Sky Radio kunnen draaien zonder dat het meteen klachten regent, denk ik. Het is aan mij niet helemaal besteed, dat wisten we inmiddels eigenlijk ook al wel een beetje, maar dit is toch wel een 2,5je eigenlijk. Het gaat me te ver om er een 3 van te maken.

Like

Eingängig, gute Melodien, hat Spaß gemacht. 3 1/2.

You can certainly hear the link between this music and that of his son Justin / Ryan Adams / Jeff Tweedy that came shortly after. Yes, it's cheesy, but so was nearly everything in the 80s. This album is more on the Brice Springsteen / Billy Joel end of the spectrum, but these are well-written songs. Loved the live cover of State Trooper at the end.

Best heard while enjoying a Lone Star and playing chicken shit bingo at the Little Longhorn.

As always I have a hard time with country deciding if it’s groundbreaking or just staple ware. Sounded decent, but didn’t raise any eyebrows for me. Weak 3.

This sounded like the Key and Peele "Racist Country music" sketch (not the lyrics just the sound). The lyrics felt like a pisstake of country. Maybe it is? Weak 2.

This was really not good. I try not to give 1/5s, most everything has something to offer. But this album was just boring, didn't make me want to listen to any more almost immediately. I will say that perhaps if I had heard this years ago or years into the future my tune would be different. But that might be a stretch.

I liked the Country, Country-Rock, and Americana influenced on the album, but the 80s Pop schmaltz didn't totally work for me, but "Fearless Heart" and "Someday" both won me over

Not my genre but charming

I don't like country. I got Nebraska a couple days ago and that State Trooper song sounded familiar though. It was decent enough.

Good songwriting but too country. Probably should be a 3 but its a 2

Modern country sound Tip toeing around the cheese Twangs successfully

Yee-haw!

Hard to get all the way through this one.

Country music is not my favourite, and while this record isn't bad, it certainly isn't my favourite. It feels like the soundtrack you'd play wandering around rural United States. It's not too dense and doesn't overstay its welcome, so it's definitely an accessible record. Earle's songwriting isn't bad, and the instrumentals are exactly what you'd expect out of a country record. In terms of songs, my favourite was "Think It Over", it made me feel like listening to the Fallout New Vegas country radio again. The worst one by far for me was "Little Rock n' Roller", super boring, sappy and overlong.

Pile of shat

Trite. Boring. Throwback jams without a spark of life. Nope.

This was pretty boring.

3/5. Yeah that's country alright. The guitar work is great, up and center with crisp and clean playing. The lyrical content is young and optimistic for someone with big dreams and love. It's honestly kind of inspirational for those afraid of change or trying something new. There are some sad songs as well and even the optimistic ones have a tinge of darkness to them. Felt much better about the album by the end but wasn't crazy about it. Still a good listen and maybe better with repeat listens. Best Song: Someday, Fearless Heart, Goodbye's All We Got Left

If I were walking around a small town country fair, maybe I'd find this mildly charming? But I'm not, so I don't. Could't get past the halfway mark.

I really liked this one.

Definitely 80’s country, but with some 80’s pop in there too.

Good little album, good songs.