As ever, Hank has written several brilliant original songs and added a few well-chosen covers - some country, some blues, a lot of rock - in short, a typical Hank album full of great songs.
My favorite song here is Young country, a mid-tempo country song that features several singers who were then (1987) considered to be the future of country music. Highway 101, Keith Whitley and T Graham Brown all achieved significant success over a short period but did not sustain it. Steve Earle is still doing well but not as a country singer. Marty Stuart was also reasonably successful for a few years. Butch Baker and Dana McVicker never made it. So Hank was wrong if he thought that these guests represented the future of country music, but nobody could have predicted the number of new stars that would emerge in 1989 and 1990.
As a contrast to Young country, in which Hank extols the virtues of mixing country with rock and blues, he covers Thanks a lot, a song originally recorded by Ernest Tubb, a traditional country singer of a bygone age. Country fans should also enjoy Heaven can't be found, a ballad of the type that we expect George Jones to sing, as well as the reflective songs, What it boils down to and Shadow face.
There are a number of hard rocking songs here including the title track, Honky tonk women (a cover of the Rolling Stones classic), Keep your hands to yourself (a cover of the biggest hit by the Georgia Satellites) and Buck naked. The closing track, Practice what I preach, is one of Hank's trademark songs in which he tells it like it is.
If you are interested in collecting Hank's albums, this should be high on your list.