Search - Clint Black :: Hard Way

Vintage Black

James E. Bagley | Sanatoga, PA USA | 02/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Hard Way was Clint Black's third release, held up for a spell due to legal problems with his record company and (former) manager. The wait was definitely worth it. As usual, Black co-wrote all of the songs, the majority with his guitarist Hayden Nicholas. The lyrics bear Black's trademark wit, while the melodies are more adventurous than before, thanks in part to Black's use of Nashville's top session players. The toe-tapping opener "We Tell Ourselves" sets the tone for the rest of the album: aggressive, insightful, downbeat, but never maudlin. Uptempo tunes have always been Black's specialty and The Hard Way continues that tradition. In addition to "We Tell Ourselves," Black excels on the sarcastic "In The Good Old Days" and the delightfully vengeful "Something To Cry About." With pure charm, he even pulls off the logistically impossible "When My Ship Comes In," which involves sailing out of Colorado. The Hard Way concludes with the reflective "Wake Up Yesterday." Perhaps the most autobiographical song on the album, the main character is profiled at a major crossroad in his life (which Black certainly was at the time in his business dealings). While there is nothing on this album as outstanding as his debut singles "A Better Man" and "Killin' Time," The Hard Way does contain a solid bunch of recordings which made it one of the top country releases of 1992."

Beginning of the end

Cory L. Schwent | Bloomsdale, MO United States | 05/01/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the last cd that Clint Black released that I can call country. There are a few signs of the things to come here, but you can let them slide by considering the quality of the songs. Almost all of these songs have pure country sounds. For some reason he changed his style to pure pop from stone country. Does he think we like that? Hmm. Get this and his the 2 previous releases and start praying for him to come to his senses."