Many an artist loses their way, and this record is the last entry of one of my favourite artists before he found his way back.
Disc 179 is...The Hard Way
Artist: Steve EarleYear of Release: 1990
What’s Up With The Cover?: Steve is looking a little worse for wear, as he proudly shows off his tattoo. It is a skull and crossbones with "Fear No Evil" written below it. Above it is written, "Drive" or "Driven" or "Drink" or something similar - I can't quite make it out for sure.
How I Came To Know It: If you've been following along you'll recall I've known Steve Earle since his debut album in 1986. "The Hard Way" is just me drilling through his collection.
How It Stacks Up: I have fourteen Steve Earle albums. This isn't one of my favourites, but it holds its own. I'd say it is about 10th.
Rating: 3 stars but a thin hair from 4.
"The Hard Way" is Earle's last album while he was messed up on drugs and liquor. After this one, he didn't record anything for close to five years, where he stormed back with 1995's "Train A Comin'". Earle has commented in the past that he sank as low as he did because as messed up as he got, the ability to write music was the last thing lost, and he never felt like he hit rock bottom until it finally left him.
He's still got it on "The Hard Way", which has some strong writing, although not as consistently good as I've come to expect from Steve Earle.
Stylistically, it has a lot of the same rock and roll sensibilities as 1988's "Copperhead Road", the album that immediately preceded it. I'm not as keen on that direction of Earle's music, and so while "The Hard Way" has great songs, many of them would benefit from a more stripped down arrangement.
The record starts out strong with "The Other Kind". It's a rebellious song, but it is clear that Earle is beginning to regret this aspect of himself. It starts off:
"I woke up this morning and I took a look
around at all that I got.
These days I've been lookin' in the mirror and
wondering if that's me lookin' back or not."
While this song seems at least partly self-referential, my other favourite track, "Billy Austin" has Earle singing the tragic story of the title character, as he awaits execution on death row. The production here is perfectly suited - the singing so quiet as to almost be a whisper, accompanied by a single guitar.
As a character study, it is both understated and elegant, focusing on some basic details of Austin's life (he is quarter Cherokee, born in Oklahoma) and on the crime he has been sentenced to die for (killing a gas station attendant during a robbery).
Earle goes beyond telling the tale, and the song becomes an indictment of the death penalty - made more poignant because it is told with the simple language of its title character:
"Now my waitin's over
As the final hour drags by
I ain't about to tell you
That I don't deserve to die
But there's twenty-seven men here
Mostly black, brown and poor
Most of 'em are guilty
Who are you to say for sure?"
There are many other good tracks on this record - there's even a little CanCon with a song called "Justice In Ontario" that sounds like it was written by Gordon Lightfoot, but none stand out as strongly as "The Other Kind" and "Billy Austin". These two tracks once again showcase Earle's unnerring ability to make you appreciate the plight of the common man - whether its the fictional Billy Austin, or the singer himself.
Best tracks: The Other Kind, Billy Austin, Justice In Ontario, Have Mercy, Close Your Eyes.
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