Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs

Goddamn it now I just want to play Red Dead Redemption again.

I can't emphasize this enough but yee fucking haw. This is real cowboy music.

No empieza mal y entiendo que es cultura musical. Suena a música de película del Oeste, pero no sé hasta que punto eso es un género o no. Esto sería otro 2,5 estrellas, pero esta vez voy a tirar por lo bajo y se queda en 2.

Good thing I watched Yellowstone before listening to this. I could almost relate.

I know the song "Big Iron" right off because my husband and I used to listen to the Fallout soundtrack every time we walked our then-newborn daughter around the living room to try to calm her and get her to sleep. My husband introduced me to this type of country music (akin to Johnny Cash, who of course came later). The lyrics are unique, clever storytelling sung with a smooth voice. This is better than standard country fare.

People say entertainment is so violent these days, as if people haven’t always lusted for violence in their media.

There’s so much to love about this record. Robbins’s gorgeous crooning, the 1950s backing vocals, the effective performances from the band. It strikes me how much I enjoy old school country compared to modern country. So glad I listened!

mid mid mid

There is only one option for an album like this

AND IT WAS ALSO THE NIGHT THAT THE SKELETONS CAME TO LIIIIIFE

THE BONES ARE THEIR MONEY

SO ARE THE WORMS

Great songs, great voice. 4/5.

Music and melody was very simplistic, so I found it pretty boring. Definitely more western than what I’m used to as country.

In contrast to yesterday's Blur, this album is Overwhermingly American. Yeehaw! 🤠 It's a type of music that's too niche to really listen on my own, but if Big Iron and El Paso are anything to go by, Marty Robbins can still truly shine in the right cinematic context.

Standouts: Big Iron • Cool Water • El Paso

“the swiftness of the ranger is still talked about today”

So glad this weird old album is on the list and that people are getting to know it. I say “weird,” but in its way it was perfectly mainstream. It is a perfect representation of a time when the Western genre completely dominated American life. And when country music was trying to seem more polished and genteel. No one would be dismissed as a hayseed for playing one of these smooth tunes.

AND YET! As many have noticed, there is a hint of menace in Marty’s voice, and the songs clearly describe a Gothic world of death and tragedy. Like the best Western films (High Noon, The Searchers) the emphasis isn’t on historical accuracy but on using the elements of the genre to tell stories about universal themes. That’s why people still like it, even tho Westerns now seem out of date.

I also like that it really doesn’t sound like any other record (except ones that imitate it). It’s that combination of crooner vocal, understated guitar, and 50s background vocals that doesn’t overwhelm.

It’s not a 5 for me because I honestly wouldn’t want to hear it every day, but I’m so glad it’s a part of the list.

Kunne egentlig bare spilt "Big Iron" 10 ganger på rad. Faen så fet låt. Ellers syns jeg cowboymusikk ofte blir litt parodisk, men dette låter akkurat slik jeg tenker cowboymusikk burde låte. Stemmen til Robbins er nesten litt Elvis til tider. Låtene glir litt i hverandre til tider, men ellers knall (pun intended).

Amazing storytelling and songwriting. I enjoyed listening to it, but it’s just not really my thing.

Its fiiine white music

I love cowboys. I didn't love this

My dad. My husband. Fallout New Vegas. Turner Movie Classics. Nostalgia.

Rather be listening to Johnny Casg

Here it is, the album I was waiting for after hearing such good reviews from this group, not only that but surprised good reviews. It definitely exceeded expectations if that is possible, by the first song I was humming, by the time I got to El Paso (not literally) I was singing so loudly people came to look. It is like the soundtrack of a Western and so evocative is this album I’m imagining myself in Monument Valley, a Roan by my side. I so need this rose-tinted record in my collection.