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I Am What I Am Image
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 14 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The newest release for the California-born country singer-songwriter is his first on Vanguard Records.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 14
  2. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Haggard began his career as a badass, but I Am is blessed with the humility and grace of a legend at peace with himself and the world around him.
  2. 90
    With Cash gone and Willie spent, hopes hang on Hag to deliver classic country, musically and poetically. And he doesn't disappoint.
  3. His good-old-days laments taste sweet where once they curdled.
  4. Mojo
    80
    Haggard's now 73 and I Am What I Am is as good as anything he has ever done. [June 2010, p. 94]
  5. Uncut
    80
    These songs are full and rich, with longtime foil The Strangers creating honky-tonk, country shuffles and even Tin Pan Alley backdrops that often explode with life. [May 2010, p.98]
  6. It's the hard-boiled stuff that really brings a lump to the throat--when it's not cracking you up.
  7. Mr. Haggard sounds more fatigued than his old sidekick, his voice less willing to bend. There are some lovely moments of stern self-loathing ("Bad Actor," "How Did You Find Me Here"); Mr. Haggard is always sharper when pointing the finger at himself than when celebrating love, as he often does on this album.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of
  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of

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