Joseph Huber - The Hanging Road (Album Review)

I had been really anticipating Joseph Huber's new album The Hanging Road. This is Huber's first album with label Muddy Roots Records. The pairing of the two seems like a perfect fit. Huber's mix of roots and country succeeds in a big way on this album.

The album has a country/roots vibe I really enjoy. "Same River Twice" kicks off the album. It's a great song. The music and lyrics instantly catch my attention and it really doesn't let up from that point. It's a continuation of great songwriting and strong vocals, with only a few minor bumps. That's something I always enjoy about albums like this. When they start from that first song and just continue throughout super solid. This album has some really nice highs and some really good mellow moments. The 6 minute and 36 second title track might seem like at the length it would be tough to keep it interesting, but Huber does. Honestly the title track could easily be one of the best songs on the album. The other long track "Wanchese & Manteo" (with a length of 5:40) does lose a little bit of steam. It's a stripped down song. Although it might lose a bit of steam, I actually enjoy the song quite a bit. It fits the flow of the album and I like it's placement on the album. I really like the vocal performance on the song. I think though if you are just picking and choosing songs from the album to check out first I'd probably check out one of the first two songs. "Goin Far On Little (Just A Little Too Long)" is a great song it's catchy and it has a great chorus. It might be in the top 10 best country/roots songs I've heard this year.

Production is nice and I really like the way the album is mixed for the most part. The mix gives the album a lot of life. I mentioned there were only a few minor bumps on this album. The only thing I really didn't like about the album is the mixing, or maybe the intro as whole to the song, "Coming Down From You". It felt slightly out of place and slightly jarring at the beginning of the track. There are a couple other spots when some of the riffs just sounds too sharp for my liking. I liked the song as a whole, but I definitely think something needed to be done with the intro and a couple other spots on the song to take some of the edge off. The song really finds its flow and about two or so minutes in you hear those jarring riffs again and it disrupts it for me. Honestly though out of ten songs this is the only one I found myself having any problems with.     

This is easily one of the best country/roots albums I've heard this year. Huber sticks out from the pack in a big way and the listeners and fans are rewarded with an album that is a really superbly written solid release. I would definitely recommend checking this one out. Overall I really enjoy it.