Take as Needed for Pain [LP]

Hank Williams III may be part of country music's most celebrated family, as the grandson of Hank Williams and the son of Hank Williams, Jr., but he's built a career that's as much about extreme rock & roll as classic country. Take as Needed for Pain is the fourth collection of outtakes and compilation tracks from Hank III that Curb Records has released since the proud musical outlaw left the label in 2010 to form his own company, and this set is devoted to the punk and metal sides of Hank's musical personality. Half of the songs on Take as Needed for Pain are covers that originally appeared on tribute albums -- "Ruby, Get Back to the Hills" (originally on Everybody Loves Antiseen), "Torn Between Suicide and Breakfast" and "Take as Needed for Pain" (both from For the Sick: A Tribute to Eyehategod), and "No Values" (which first appeared on Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three). Of the other songs, "Get Outta My Life" was a collaboration with David Allan Coe and members of Pantera that appeared on the album Rebel Meets Rebel, "Gotta Buy Paw a Truck" is an alternate version of "Redneck Ride," a tune that was recorded for Hank III's Assjack album, and "White Trash" is a number that's been in Williams' live repertoire for years. While this material will certainly be of interest to fans who embrace Hank III's edgy rock projects, many serious Hank III collectors will already have most (if not all) of the material on this collection. ~ Mark Deming