What the critics are saying about

Merle Haggard's Haggard Like Never Before:

“Do not mistake this deceptively jaunty, brief (a tad over half an hour) album as minor Haggard. While the title song invites you to apply the pun of his surname to his aging musical prowess, the music refutes his joshing. There's a lotta spunk in the old coot: Beyond the typically anti-media, anti-Iraq-war-policy politics behind the single "That's The News," Never Before has a fun novelty song ("Garbage Man"), a great ballad ("The Downside"), and a beautiful ballad ("Because Of Your Eyes"). And, except for the novelty number, he wrote all those, and he sings them in a voice that, impossibly, has grown smoother and more flexible with age. Grade: A-" - Entertainment Weekly

“If he's a bit haggard in the weary sense, he's still very Haggard in the Merle sense, and that makes this understated project distinctively original, (with) two of the finest, tersest heartbreak ballads of Haggard's career, "The Downside" and "I Dreamed You Didn't Love Me." – Washington Post

“There are staggeringly powerful moments when Willie Nelson glides into the classic ‘Reno Blues (Philadelphia Lawyer)’ and the two casually harmonize through the chorus . . . with 60-plus years under his belt, Hag is capable of evoking emotions with his voice that he once couldn’t dredge up without the help of poetry. The bone-simple ‘Because Of Your Eyes’ has an elegant economy that rivals anything he’s every written.” – San Francisco Bay Guardian

“The title track suggests he’s tired and worn down, and his voice wears every day of this 66 years. Still, Haggard is capable of incredible poignancy and tenderness on songs such as “Because Of Your Eyes” and “I Hate To See It Go.” Elsewhere, this is his most politically charged album in years.” – USA Today

“Vital, indelible work” – Daily News (Los Angeles)

“The highlights are ‘That’s The News’, a much less forced topical take on contemporary culture than Brad Paisley’s ‘Celebrity’, and “Reno Blues (Philadelphia Lawyer)’, in which he teams up with Willie Nelson on the Woody Guthrie murder ballad.” – New York Times

“This old country pro still exhibits an immense sense of soul, from his duet with Willie Nelson . . . to the slippery jazz stride of ‘Garbage Man’. Today’s country-pop mechanics should bow to this music. They’re not worthy.” – Lexington Herald Leader (KY)

“ . . . The record has some moments that will last the rest of his Country Music Hall of Fame career. Haggard may be growing older, but he won’t go away quietly.” – San Francisco Chronicle

“The whole album displays the same fire Haggard stoked in the late 60s and early 70s. . . he delivers these songs with such honesty and wariness that they’re impossible to dismiss.” – Reno Gazette-Journal

“The music displays Haggard’s trademark blend of honky-tonk earthiness and jazzy sophistication, deftly weaving in fiddles, piano and horns.” – Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram

“HAGGARD LIKE NEVER BEFORE also includes a couple of poignant reflections on old age, some beautiful love songs and a cover duet of Woody Guthrie’s ‘Reno Blues (Philadelphia Lawyer)’ with old crony Willie Nelson.” - Billboard

"Haggard Like Never Before" is the artist's debut on his own Hag Records label. Nashville's loss is a Haggard fan's gain. Free from outside pressures, Haggard has made an album that is as reflective and relaxed as a basement jam . . . Arrangements that run from Haggard's simple, tastefully executed guitar lines to horn-driven Western swing contribute to a project that is fresh and dynamic, and wholly Haggard from beginning to end. “  - News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)

Merle Haggard holds the banner for country music, the hard-jawed workingman who has never backed down nor compromised. . . Haggard Like Never Before is the first release from the new "Hag Records," as Merle joins the many artists so fed up with major labels they're all starting their own. If you like country music, that simple, plainspoken, workingman music, then you need look no further than Merle Haggard. – countrymusic.about.com

“ . . . some of the most pointed and reflective original material of his 40-year recording career.” – Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA)

“Two other songs on his new album Haggard Like Never Before contain sly, understated social observations. ‘Lonesome Day’ muses about the day when ‘The men in black come kicking in your door’ and civil liberties will be taken away and wonders, ‘Who's gonna sing the song of freedom/When freedom goes away/It's gonna be a lonesome day.’ And ‘Yellow Ribbons’ says, ‘Tie a yellow ribbon in your hair/So folks around the world will know you really care/Pray God will bless America for doing what we dare/Then go tie a yellow ribbon in your hair.’ Not many country singers would try that. The ones who can't should study the lives and works of people like Cash and Haggard. . . It's no surprise that Cash, Haggard and Willie Nelson -- artists who took stands -- continue to draw new audiences and listeners.” – CMT.com

“It appears country’s ultimate workingman’s poet (sorry, Johnny Cash) still has a lot to say . . . further proof that his art still matters to him – and his fans – in a flash-in-the-pan age in which style too often wins out over substance.” – Southwest Times-Record (Fort Smith, AR)

“…The highlights find Haggard writing about love (“Because Of Your Eyes” and “I Dreamed You Didn’t Love Me”) in ways as haunting as his early work, and he throws in the most thoughtful song yet about the media, government, and Iraq (“That’s The News”) – Robert Hilburn, Los Angeles Times