The Hard Way (CD - 1992)

Personnel: Clint Black (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Don Potter, Larry Byrom, Martin Young (acoustic guitar); Dann Huff, Reggie Young, Hayden Nicholas (electric guitar); Sonny Garrish, Jeff Peterson (steel guitar); Mark O'Connor, Rob Hajacos, Jeff Huskins (fiddle); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Hayden Nicholas (electric sitar); Matt Rollings (piano); Leland Sklar, Jake Willemain (bass); Eddie Bayers, Dick Gay (drums); Lenny Castro, Eric Darken (percussion); Curtis Young, Dennis Wilson, Jana King, Liana Manis (background vocals).

Recorded at Studio Sound, Burbank, California; Moonee Ponds, Los Angeles, California; Eleven Eleven Studio and Mesa Recording, Nashville, Tennessee.

Back to form, Clint Black put some of his most exciting singles on his third album. "We Tell Ourselves" rocked without resorting to Southern boogie, and "When My Ship Comes In" contained a masterful chorus. The album also included the hit "Burn One Down." ~ Brian Mansfield

Clint Black's third CD is aptly named--in the two years that passed between his second release and THE HARD WAY, Black went through a messy breakup with his manager, endured reports that he'd fathered an illegitimate child, and met and married actress Lisa Hartman. The latter event went on to inspire many of Black's future songs, but THE HARD WAY remains an album full of bitterness and melancholy.

That's not to say it's unpleasant to listen to--quite the opposite. Musically one of Clint Black's more adventurous albums, particularly the electrifying "We Tell Ourselves" with its sizzling guitar fadeout, he's in fine voice here, angrily spitting out the lyrics to "Something to Cry About," and drowning in misery on the excellent "Burn One Down." He also shines on the rueful, she-done-me-wrong ballad "A Woman Has Her Way," the haunting "Wake Up Yesterday" and the melodic, regretful title track. But Black's black mood does lift for two tracks: "When My Ship Comes In" and "There Never Was a Train," which, together with the sunny, Jimmy Buffett-inspired "Ship," display a cautious optimism. But overall, THE HARD WAY proves that no musical form captures pain and heartbreak better than country music. minimize