This is one of the best albums Dwight Yoakam has made...His voice is nothing but pure country...straight from the hills of Kentucky...I would certainly recommend this album ta any fan of pure Honky Tonk music !!! Ya will be thankful ya bough it...the quality of the music...the voice and the composure is worth more than the price of this collection !!! A+++

Every cut on here is so good, from beginning to end. For me, it is perfect driving music, especially on a long, hot summer day through the backroads. "I'll Be Gone", is a favorite. Such a great voice.

Don't get me wrong; I love this CD to death. But trust me: Spring for the extra few bucks and get that digitally remastered 2006 Rhino re-issue. Not only does it have ten demo tracks in addition to all ten tracks that are on this version of the CD on the first disk, but there's a second disk with a smokin' live concert from the Roxy in L.A. from '86. If I could, I'd give the Rhino re-issue six stars. It's that good.

Entertaining? You bet! In my opinion, one qualification of any album or film has to have an entertainment factor: was I in some measure entertained? Naturally, some things will entertain more than others, but if I am not entertained at all by something, it's a good bet that I'm not going to recommend it. This album is definitely entertaining. Having said that, I think many DY fans would agree that many of his later albums were deeper in terms of writing and musical range, while still entertaining: in other words thay all contained good music!

This album is still a straight-ahead, no-nonsense country album that has up tempo songs to spare. Yes, the opening "Honky Tonk Man" may be standard country fare but it's a perfect way to begin the album. Other fine songs include "It Won't Hurt" and "I'll Be Gone". "South of Cincinnati" is a great slower song that tells a heartbraking story. One of my favorite songs is "Bury Me", perhaps due to its bluegrassy feel.

For rockin' out, the title song is perfect and a remake of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" is nicely done. The weakest song is probably "Heartaches by the Number", but that's just because everything else is so much better. DY would go on to do even greater things with *If There Was a Way* and the magnificent *This Time*. Even so, this is a perfect place to become familiar with not just a great country artist, but a great artist and musician of any label.

If you're Dwight Fan and you don't own this Classic debut,

you should do yourself a favour and Buy it Now.

When he was playing clubs in the 1980's his brand of Country was so Traditional, is was considered radical, and Alternative.

There was, what was known as a "Cow Punk" movement in Los Angeles, and he often was billed with these acts even though he was playing "Real"

Country music. Not what you heard on the Radio then, or even today, but it was real.

This album is Flat out fantastic, and if you like it REAL you gotta

have this. If you've never bought a Dwight Yoakam album, start here,

and you'll be buying the rest for sure.