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MojoApr 12, 2011Mike Ness and his men still have those rock 'n roll blues. [Feb. 2011, p. 106]
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Kerrang!Feb 23, 2011This most stylish and once troubled of bands sound like artists still in search of something new. And this new album is well worth the wait. [15 Jan 2010, p.52]
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Jan 21, 2011There's only one new member since Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll, but it won't show, as all members play their part like well-taught theater kids in a Stephen Sondheim musical.
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Jan 18, 2011You can tell Ness is still getting comfortable revealing that side of his artistic persona; most of the song's words are self-help boilerplate meant to keep you on the surface of his thoughts. But the music provides a way in.
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Jan 14, 2011There aren't many punk stalwarts who can weave a tale of being down and out quite like Mike Ness, and for the most part he's in top form on this seventh studio release from Social D.
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Jan 25, 2011Full of heart and soul, it's clear the band is putting in a daily grind and continue to impress in terms of ability & energy - it simply lacks the hooks, the feeling and everything we've previously seen in stellar fashion from a legendary band.
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Jan 20, 2011Hard Times wears that wisdom almost too well. With explicit nods to the Stones, Hank, and Bakersfield, the album makes clear that Social Distortion's true subject is now rock 'n' roll itself, which serves as Ness' inspiration as well as his salvation.
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Alternative PressJan 19, 2011A new Social D album is always welcome, even if Ness' advance age is showing now more than ever. [Feb 2011, p.90]
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Jan 18, 2011Social Distortion sounds just as you would expect on Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, but that's to say they sound like a fine and fierce rock & roll who have beaten the odds and stayed around to keep making music long after many of their peers gave up, and the commitment that holds them together can be heard bubbling under each tune.
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Jan 18, 2011Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes is a solid reboot for Social D, with singer and songwriter Ness navigating the current lineup of the band through a churning confluence of Stones-y blues and country twang.
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Jan 14, 2011It might not end up being one of the best albums of 2011, but it's still worth your time (and it was certainly worth six years to Ness).
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Jan 14, 2011Social Distortion are clearly unhurried by the passage of time and passing trends. And it shows, as this is a fine addition to their canon and proves they're full of a very important quality: life.
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Jan 14, 2011This record manages the remarkable feat of balancing true integrity with universal appeal.
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Sep 13, 2011Ain't nothing fancy about these nursery rhymes, just blaze-of-glory guitars and busted-dream lyricism from the jailbait-tight godfathers of melodic punk squawk.
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Jan 18, 2011Social D has tapped ever deeper into its Americana roots while giving Ness plenty of grease for his gruff, rough-and-tumble confessionals. Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes, the band's seventh album, doesn't poison that well--but it comes close to exhausting it.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 12
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Mixed: 3 out of 12
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Negative: 0 out of 12
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Feb 1, 2011
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Aug 31, 2012
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Feb 23, 2011