montgomery gentry discography free download tattoos and scars Tattoos & Scars. With all of the comparisons to Southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, Charlie Daniels, the Outlaws, and so forth, this solid, hardcore rockin' honky tonk duo and their amazing band is an entity unto themselves. Eddie Montgomery (brother of John Michael) and Troy Gentry are equal parts country music that comes from Merle Haggard, George Jones, Wynn Stewart, Dwight Yoakam, and even Hank Williams. At the same time, they play a scorching brand of rock & roll that has everything to do with the aforementioned heroes of the 1970s and the Allmans too because the blues are at the root of everything they do. This is an auspicious debut album, one that not only shows promise, but delivers the goods in the form of great songs written by a host of Nash Vegas' and Texas' finest -- if unknown new breed -- and absolutely tremendous performances. Check the hard rocking opener, "Hillbilly Shoes," with its flatpicking guitar intro supplanted by overdriven fiddles and screaming dual lead guitars. And "Trying to Survive" with its guitar, pedal steel, and piano fills is reminiscent of the feel, not sound, of Tucker's "Can't You See." It's easy to embrace Tim McGraw and a host of others who use rock & roll as way of framing their country music, but Montgomery Gentry don't use rock; they are a rock band who make country music, real country music. Check the gorgeous chorus on "Lonely and Gone" that is commenced with a heavy metal guitar intro only to become a gorgeous mid-tempo ballad. Other tracks, like "Self-Made Man," are pure modern honky tonk. Vocally, the harmonies between this pair are a perfect balance of beer and fine whiskey. Montgomery's rough hewn baritone and Gentry's almost unreal range and trademark phrasing make something highly original in the face of so much cookie-cutter Nash Vegas big-hatted crap. The funky blues on "Daddy Won't Sell the Farm" with those fiddles and pedal steels wrapping around a greasy keyboard line lead into a rebel Southern son's admiration for a man and a way of life that is quickly disappearing. The drums propel the tune forward, and the guitars fill what little space there is with rollin' and tumblin' blues. The Bakerfield honky tonk of "I've Loved a Lot More Than I've Hurt" is as traditional as it gets, and Jones or Yoakam could have cut it. The title track is a great morality tale, and "Trouble Is" is a Gentry showcase with his singing tenor in the hillbilly groove that is equal parts blues, tonkin' stride, and arena rock. Montgomery Gentry should be nothing less than amazing in a few years if they keep this up, because this is solid, ass-kickin' country-rock. This is one of the best pop records of the year. Period. Folks Like Us. Four years removed from 2011's Rebels on the Run and still on an indie label, Montgomery Gentry doesn't evidence much desire to change on 2015's Folks Like Us. Some slight changes are evident here and there -- "Headlights" echoes a bit of the quick-tongue patter of bro-country, while "Hillbilly Hippies" has a heavy four-on-the-floor beat that could be characterized as disco if the surroundings weren't so defiantly redneck -- but Montgomery Gentry are comfortable where they are, alternating rocking country with strong sentiment. Often, the softer side resonates just a bit more than the big-boned swagger -- "Better for It" pulls at the heart strings, while "Pain" comes close to being a crossover ballad -- but the duo still does put gusto into the bluster, so it's satisfying. Nevertheless, when Montgomery Gentry strikes a delicate balance between the two extremes, such as on the bluesy crawl "Back on a Dirt Road" with Steve Robinson, that's when they flourish. Rebels on the Run. Montgomery-Gentry have been through a lot in the last year, particularly Eddie Montgomery. In September of 2010, the band parted company with longtime label Sony Music Nashville. In December, Montgomery underwent surgery for prostate cancer. That same month, his wife of 20 years filed for divorce. Rebels on the Run, helmed by producer Michael Knox, was recorded in the aftermath of all this, and released within a year on the pair's indie imprint Average Joe's Entertainment. The two are well-known for electrifying live shows and hard-rocking singles that straddle the line between volume-cranking, hard Southern rock and contemporary country's obsession with '70s and '80s pop. Of the 11 new songs here, there are a slew of over-the-top rockers, including the album-opening anthem "Damn Right I Am," "So Called Life," and the closer, "Work Hard, Play Harder." "Simple Things" uses the same electric guitar that marked John Mellencamp's '80s records. Of course there are a couple contemporary country-pop/rockers that are standard fare, including "Damn Baby," the good-time paeans "Ain't No Law Against That," the title track, and the single "Where I Come From." There is also a pair of ballads in "Missing You" and "Empty" -- the latter cops the opening phrase from Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" note for note. Rebels on the Run fits together quite well as an album, and there are numerous cuts here to be chosen for second and even third singles -- including the truly awful "I Like Those People," with guests Charlie Daniels and Randy Owen -- it's pure radio schmaltz with the now de rigeur "just us country folks" theme. The drums actually sound like drums -- unusual for an album in this genre -- and while the guitars are overly compressed, they still give the illusion of sounding somewhat ragged. That said, Rebels on the Run is the most consistent offering from Montgomery-Gentry since 2006's Some People Change, even if it doesn't quite scale those heights. Here's to You. Shortly after Montgomery Gentry completed Here's to You, their ninth album and second for Average Joe's, Troy Gentry died in a helicopter crash. This tragedy hangs over the reception of Here's to You, lending it an air of fatality that it otherwise would not have had. Certainly, there are themes of mortality woven within its 12 songs, but they're the kind that concern men in their middle age: feeling a little bit older and slower, the necessity of a stable love, and the desire to be a "Better Me." Gentry sings a song of that name, which does indeed bestow a slightly sticky track some poignancy, an emotion that neither "Better Me" nor Here's to You would have if it weren't for Gentry's untimely demise. Setting that sad fact aside, Here's to You is a straight-ahead Montgomery Gentry album, one that is proudly out of step with current fads and designed to please longtime fans. Apart from a hint of hip-hop at the start of "Get Down South," Here's to You adheres to the same melodic synthesis of anthemic rock and country corn Montgomery Gentry call their own. If the songs aren't particularly memorable -- the jingoistic "That's the Thing About America" stands out because it's not a song about love, family, aging, or beer -- they're all sturdy and ingratiating, the work of amiable pros. While that might not be the kind of farewell anybody would've conceived for Troy Gentry, it nevertheless holds true to values he held dear throughout his career. Tattoos & Scars/Carrying On. Interestingly, T-Bird Americana releases this two-fer of Montgomery Gentry's first two albums on Sony Music Nashville on the same day as Rebels on the Run, the duo's first independent release on their Average Joe's Entertainment imprint. Tattoos & Scars was originally issued in 1999. At that time, the duo and their loud and proud electric band were among the first to attempt to resurrect the ghost of Southern rock while combining it with new tradtionalist country in a heady, testosterone-saturated stew. Given its first three singles -- "Hillbilly Shoes," "Lonely and Gone," and "Daddy Won't Sell the Farm" all charted in the Top 20 of the country charts with two more entering the Top 40 -- the duo had a winner on their hands; the album eventually went platinum. Between videos and touring, the band won themselves an enormous following right out of the gate. They followed that album with Carryin' On in 2001. Montgomery Gentry chose to showcase the modern country side of their persona with their lead-off single "She Couldn't Change Me," which peaked at number two on the country chart and entered Billboard's Hot 100 at number 37. While the second single from the record, "Cold One Comin' On," didn't chart as well, it was nonetheless well-received at radio and showcased the band's willingness to grow their music from the rough and rowdy aspects of their debut, though that side is here as well in the fine, stomping cover of Waylon Jennings' "Ramblin' Man" and the controversial rebel anthem "Carryin' On." The set was eventually certified gold and, in retrospect, is a very consistent and logical outgrowth of the sound displayed on Tattoos & Scars. Taken together, these two recordings prefigure the way Montgomery Gentry's sound has unfolded to the present day. As reissues go, these two albums arveryey well suited to one another, and certainly stand the test of time well.