USA Today
-Brian Mansfield
Hillbilly Deluxe
(* * * out of four)
Finally feeling some heat in the country-duo category from the likes
of upstarts Big & Rich and Montgomery Gentry, Brooks & Dunn up the
ante with barnburners such as Play Something Country and Ronnie Dunn's
increasingly soulful vocal performances. Though She's About as Lonely
as I'm Going to Let Her Get plays out like a guy practicing his
pick-up lines, Whiskey Do the Talking finds the same character trying
to wash away his self-doubt with false bravado. With its "slick
pick-'em-up trucks" and swamp-rock guitars, the title track vividly
depicts the weekend cruising scene around a small-town Tastee-Freez.
But the album finds its true soul in Believe, in which a young man
learns secrets of life and faith from an elderly widower. |
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Billboard Magazine
-Ray WaddellComing off one of its best albums to date, country
music's most successful duo remains on a creative roll on this
rocked-up barn burner. The pair kick out the jams on the killer
roadhouse rockers "Play Something Country" and "Whiskey Do My
Talkin'," and searing guitars pepper Dunn's passionate vocal on "She's
About As Lonely As I'm Going to Let Her Get." Brooks sounds
appropriately hangdog on "My Heart's Not a Hotel" and conveys
considerable emotional depth on the well-drawn "Her West Was Wilder."
But Dunn is arguably the best ballad singer in Nashville, and he soars
here on "Believe" and "I May Not Ever Get Over You." The Brad
Crisler/Craig Wiseman penned title cut is redneck genius, and the guys
close with the gorgeous, Eagles-esque "Again," putting a cap on a big,
broad, bold record that keeps B&D atop the duo mountain. |
Entertainment Weekly
Alanna Nash
Hillbilly Deluxe A-
On their first LP pairing with producer Tony Brown (George Strait,
Lyle Lovett), the duo take it all back to the honky-tonks in perfectly
drawn vignettes of Saturday-night sin and swagger. Ronnie Dunn, the
king of neon soul, hot-wires the tension between heartache and hooking
up, especially on "Play Something Country." That megahit, like the
rest of the album, reinforces Brooks & Dunn's position as the premier
practitioners of the sawdust serenade. |
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Nick CristianoOK, so they stole the title from Dwight Yoakam's
second album. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn's Hillbilly Deluxe, due Aug.
30, is the boot-scootin' duo's best album in years. The music is lean
and muscular, and the songs are more than just cliche-ridden exercises
in crowd-pleasing spectacle. Make no mistake, though, there are plenty
of new crowd-pleasers here, including "Play Something Country" and
"She Likes to Get Out of Town." |
hmv.co.uk
Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks make a welcome return with 'Hillbilly
Deluxe', an album that merges classic jukebox country with Brooks &
Dunn's jacked-up take on modern sounds in honky tonk 'n'rocking music.
Produced by the legendary Tony Brown (Steve Earle, George Strait, Lyle
Lovett and Patty Loveless) 'Hillbilly Deluxe' is a slightly ragged,
fairly organic take on what Saturday nights are made of.
Featuring 'Play Something Country', the new single which is B&D's
fastest moving ever, the road-tripping go-git-it-girl romp 'She Likes
to Get Out of Town' and a classic tears-for-a-quarter country of
classic vintage with 'She's About as Lonely as I'm Going to Let Her
Get'. |
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