Fabulous record evokes late 60s/early 70s country
Webley Webster | Hillsborough, NC USA | 05/18/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Fulks returns to his country roots with perhaps his best effort yet, a wonderful 15-song set that summons the spirits of Johnny Paycheck, Roger Miller, Merle Haggard, and other heroes of popular country 's most recent era of great artistry. There's plenty of Fulks' trademark cheeky wit here, with "I'm Gonna Take You Home and Make You Like Me," "Goodbye Cruel Girl," and "Countrier Than Thou" among the disc's highlights. The humor is supplemented by some of Fulks' finest efforts at serious songwriting, including the title track and "Leave it to a Loser." On both, Fulks drops the comfortable guard of irony and places his faith in the strength of the songs and his ability to deliver them. The results are spectacular.
If country radio sounded anything like this album, the world would be a much, much better place."
Best Country Album of 2005
Henry Faulkner | Rock Bottom, Population 1 | 08/22/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Mainstream Nashville is just beginning to regain credibility while learning to reconcile the 70's "Outlaw Movement" and Chet Atkin's "Nashville Sound" with bluegrass and honky-tonk roots. While it's good news on the whole, this has only come in spurts from several different artists. On "Georgia Hard" Robbie Fulks delivers the full spectrum in one incredible album. For long-time Fulks fans, this is the album you always knew he had in him: funny, smart, dark, beautiful, and honest. There have been some great albums released this year--"Georgia Hard" leaves them all in the dust.
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Robbie Fulks unloads...
Graham R. Lewis | Charleston, IL USA | 05/25/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"...his mental rolodex of country music's many moods and styles, from hillbilly and murder ballads to dancehall swing to honky tonk, countrypolitan, folk, cowpunk and beyond. And as always, it's his incredibly well-written lyrics that really pull the plow. Alternately funny, bitter, romantic, downright goofy and drop dead serious, Georgia Hard finds the perfect balance between cynicism and faith, hope and despair, satire and wisdom, pleasure and pain. Oh, and it's really fun to listen to as well. That's the true point I'm trying to make (I knew I'd get to it). For quite a while now, Fulks has been delivering a joyful noise that makes damn fools of the Nashville Corporate-Country Overlords who ignore such authentic artists in favor of generic hats and catsuits. Georgia Hard is a perfect opportunity for new fans to discover an album (yeah, I still call em that) and an artist that will become part of the landscape of their lives. Don't pass this up--or any of Fulks' other albums either. And if he plays live in your area, GO! Solo or with a band, you 'll have the time of your life."