The Rebel Within marks Hank III's last album with Curb Records, a fact he celebrates with an expletive-laden tirade at the end of "Tore Up and Loud." It is also his most accessible album to date. He has channeled his legendary rebel pride into a deeper, more cultural and historical context, rendering him something more akin to Old Crow Medicine Show. That is not to say there is a lack of drinking and hell raising songs on this album, only that they are tempered by a greater knowledge of what that life brings and what causes it. The humor is more tongue in cheek and less 'high school.' Whether this was caused by a new found maturity in Hank III himself or a freedom in the knowledge that this album would buy his freedom, it is a change for the better. On Rebel Within, Hank III lives up to the very best of his family legacy.

“Getting drunk and falling down has taken his toll on me,” Hank confesses in the opening track, before acknowledging “I like a good time living on the run with my good friend misery.” The songs on this album are woven through with a heavy dose of Appalachian fiddle. No where is this more apparent than on the lovely “Looking for a Mountain,” a sprightly tune about mountain living that is almost reminiscent of a 1930's moonshining ballad. He keeps to the theme of living outside the city and outside the law on “Moonshiner's Life.” These are themes and instruments that he has used before, but this album sounds much more polished and considered than his earlier work. What is missing from this album are the overt attempts to sound outlaw or punk that have defined Hank III's previous endeavors. Ordinarily, if an artist like Hank III were to make a more polished and less punk album it would result in a mediocre album. But this is far from an ordinary album, and no where is this more apparent than on “Karmageddon.” The song starts with a quiet string band and soft harmonies, and builds to an ominous cacophony of dogs and guitars howling in harmony over trumpets and the clattering of whips or gunfire akin to The Beatles “Revolution 9.” “Lost In Oklahoma,” on the other hand, sounds like it could be a old Merle Haggard song, complete with references to Mama and being thrown in jail. “Tore Up and Loud” is the only track on the album which contains the frenetic melody and energy of his previous outings. Drinking Over Mama is a tongue and cheek ballad about a son fretting over his mama who discovered beer and crack at the age of 61, while recollecting the life of drudgery that drove her to it. All told, The Rebel Within is a brilliant trek through fifty years of country music seen through the lens of one of its most creative artists.

When a listener thinks of Hank III, they think or drinking, illegal drugs and profane rants against mainstream country music. On The Rebel Within, only the latter subject is missing, though the illegal drugs have largely been traded for references to a lifestyle rather than specific narcotics. Instead of making this album more generic, however, this change allows Hank III a larger canvass on which to work, and he makes good use of it. He is neither a typical country singer who goes from drugs to Jesus nor is he one who laughs about his antics in high school while wearing straight laced suburbanism as a merit badge. Like The Drive By Truckers, he is merely someone who still drinks and still smokes, but is starting to feel the repercussions harder in the morning. More than anything The Rebel Within is a return to grown up country music, country music where a three and a half minute songs reflected and entire life instead of moment therein. The Rebel Within is not an album about unleashing the inner rebel, but about making peace with his place as a voice inside ones head.

You can support Hank III by purchasing this album at Amazon | iTunes.