For one of country's most admired and consistently pleasing vocalists, with no iota of crossover into pop, you couldn't ask for better than George Strait and his new CD "Honkytonkville!"

10 of 11 found the following review helpful:


Honkytonkville...a nice place to escape to...  Jun 20, 2003 By Jerry McDaniel
after listening to Strait's latest, i'm not one bit surprised that i'd walk away totally blown away as usual. there seems to be no stopping him...as much as some predict that Strait hasn't got much left in him (having been on the charts since 1981!!) i'd disagree of course. the CD contains 12 songs, it used to be that 10 songs were the limit on a Strait album, along with everyone else in country music. he took pride in only having 10 songs...but 12 is even better after hearing this.

Ironically, Strait's first single from this is the slow ballad written in 1978 called "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa". usually, Strait and or MCA likes to kick things off with an up-tempo song as the first single in hopes of drawing toe-tappers to the CD. i can hear potential future singles with the songs "As Far As It Goes", "Look Who's Back From Town", and if MCA is risky, the title track "Honkytonkville", which yearns me to imagine such a place on a road-map. Rand McNally must've over-looked this town! all in all it's a great album and as i earlier said, i'm not surprised by it's greatness. "Cowboys Like Us", a tale of motorcyclists uses cowboy/western imagery to paint a story. The horses in that song are made of steel.

7 of 7 found the following review helpful:


How can George top this?  Jun 13, 2004 By Ken "KC Music Fan"
I didn't become a George Strait fan until the early '90s, when he did Pure Country. I've always admired his music, though. George hasn't gone "country-pop", but instead he has stuck with authentic country songs, and that formula has made him successful.

Honkytonkville, George's latest record, has produced three solid hits. The mellow ballads "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" and "Desperately", both about longing for an old love, rank up there with George's classic lost-love songs "You Look So Good In Love", "A Fire I Can't Put Out" and "Meanwhile". "Cowboys Like Us", about a couple of buddies riding out in their "steel horses"(pickup trucks) to have a good time, is another big hit off this record. The song "Look Who's Back From Town", about the guy meeting up with his old flame after her rich lover ditched her, is still another great song. "Heaven Is Missing An Angel" and "My Infinite Love" are positive love songs.

Most of Honkytonkville, though, is uptempo. Upbeat songs("Unwound", "Down And Out", and "Right or Wrong", for instance) are what first made George a star. He has a lot of upbeat material on this record. "She Used To Say That To Me", "Honk If You Honky Tonk", "As Far As It Goes", "Four Down And Twelve Across" and the title song "Honkytonkville" are all bouncy, enjoyable songs. My favorite here, though, is the swinging song "I Found Jesus On The Jailhouse Floor". In the song, the speaker has a religious experience after he's arrested for drunkenness, and now he wants to tell everybody. In "I Found Jesus On The Jailhouse Floor", George not only puts a new twist on an already familiar theme, but he makes it sound convincing. Finding original ways of expressing things has been a strength of George's for years, although he doesn't do any of his own songwriting.

In summary, I think George has come out with a great album in Honkytonkville. This record has been out for a year, and people are still buying it. It is easily his best work in quite a while.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:


George Did it Again With Honkytonkville  Jun 11, 2003 By Jared
In 2001 George came out with The Road Less Traveled and it was great. One of his best albums in years. So, when I went out to get Honkytonkville I wasn't sure if would be as good. Well it is and it may even be better. Everytime I listen to it I love it more and more.
First, it starts out with two honky tonk songs: SHE USED TO SAY THAT TO ME, and HONKYTONKVILLE. They both will get your toe tappin. LOOK WHO'S BACK FROM TOWN is a good song about a woman who comes back to her country man, after her city boy dumps her. It's kind of funny because she dumps the country boy to be with the city boy. It's a song that only George can pull off. Then, there's COWBOY'S LIKE US this is a great song about the Cowboys life that has that old western day feel to it. TELL ME SOMETHING BAD ABOUT TULSA is George's new single and if you haven't heard it well it's great.
Next, AS FAR AS IT GOES may be the best song on the whole album. It's a beautiful love song. The lyrics will blow your mind. It's one of his best songs in a long time. It's up there with CARRYING YOUR LOVE WITH ME. Moving along I FOUND JESUS ON THE JAILHOUSE FLOOR is a good song about a man who finds Jesus in jail. DESPERATELY is a great song about a man who is still in love with an old flame. It sounds like a song the great Don Williams would have done.
The 9th song on the album is HONK IF YOU HONKY TONK which is another honky tonk song, and just might be the second best song on the album. But with so many great songs it's hard to say. This along with AS FAR AS IT GOES would make great singles. HEAVEN IS MISSING AN ANGEL is another good love song. How many times has a man said heaven must be missing an angel to a woman. It's about time someone wrote a song about it, and the best part is George is singing it. Next, FOUR DOWN AND TWELVE ACROSS is a very clever song. A man is doing a crossword puzzle about his troubling relationship. It's a witty song that once again only Strait can pull off. To end the album George sings MY INFINITE LOVE a great love song about a man's infinite love for his lover. This is a song the more you hear it the more you love it.
All I can say is HONKYTONKVILLE is great, and if your a George fan it's a must have. If your new to country music grab this and hear what real country music sounds like. George is the man and he proves there is no slowing down THE KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC. Now if you'll excuse me I'll be heading to HONKYTONKVILLE.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:


Career highlight for Texas honky-tonker  Sep 09, 2003 By hyperbolium
Garth Brooks' pyrotechnic career may have generated more unit sales, but George Strait's longevity and faith to his country roots has minted fifty #1 singles, and gold and platinum album numbers second only to Elvis. Strait's career has been one of the most brilliant balancing acts in modern music, navigating a surprisingly rootsy line through twenty-plus years of Nashville's various fads.

Strait's new album is filled with hit singles and fine album tracks, showing the singer to have his ears wide-open to some of country music's most interesting songwriters. He eases into the yearning of Bruce Robison's "Desperately" and sets the told-you-so vocal of "Look Who's Back in Town" against a rich Billy Sherill styled backing, complete with slip-key piano and strings.

As fine as he sings the ballads, Strait turns up-tempo with equal conviction. Jim Lauderdale's lead-off, "She Used to Say That to me," and the title track's neon glow will be sending dancers two-stepping 'round the floor, just as "I Found Jesus on the Jailhouse Floor" and the novelty "Honk If You Honky Tonk" are destined to become Saturday night line-dancing favorites.

Though Strait's success has never really disappeared and his energy's never really waned, it's hard not to hear this album, his thirty-first, as a refreshing restatement of his brand of vital, gritty, yet still radio ready, country music. As he said to a recent concert audience, "I'm not done till you say I'm done." With one of the best album's of his career (keep your eyes peeled for chart-topper #51), Strait is clearly far from done.

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