I almost always have little to say about these classic country albums. It seems there's only 2 tempos for country music- toe-tappin' and slow'n'weepy. I'm betting if every other note on the electric guitar isn't played with a slide somebody in the band will have a heart attack. It also appears that in order to have written a country song you'd better have a drinking problem, call potential love interests "Woman" or "darlin'" or "girl", and have done a stint in prison.
Disturbing lyric: "Insane with rage I took my darlin's life, because I loved her more than life. My grief for her will last a long long time, but I'd rather lose her than my mind." Ignore for a moment that Merle rhymed "life" with "life"... Holy shit.
"Skid Row" is a pretty decent tune. For once it's nice to hear the drummer actually hit the head of the drum instead of just the rim. There's also a honky-tonk piano that gives the track a decent rockabilly feel. The rest of the album is OK but often sleep-inducing. Oddly every song is played in 4. Most classic country albums I've listened to have been evenly split between songs in 4 and songs in 3. Objectively I'd say that's worse that Haggard didn't mix things up enough. On the other hand, country songs in 3 are usually really slow and sad, so i'm glad I didn't have to hear one of those this time around.
In any case, seeing as how I nodded off once while listening I have to conclude I'm A Lonesome Fugitive is a 2-star album.
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