The double-exclamation-point album ‘Quit!!' is the third studio album from the stratospheric singer-songwriter Hardy and it’s a heavy-hitting honest insight into life.
Belonging to the nu metal/rock side of Country, I’m informed by my research, and part of the next generation of Country music artists garnering stadium-level crowds (alongside Ernest and Morgan Wallen) Hardy also appeals to those who grew up on OG Eminem and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. But kick aside labels and phrases like genre-bending; the beating heart of Country music is the story, which Hardy delivers with ease every time he writes, whether for himself or for Thomas Rhett or Morgan Wallen (he started out writing for Florida Georgia Line).
In just three years Hardy has wracked up fifteen number ones as a songwriter, earned a shelf of awards and taken the murder ballad, Wait In The Truck (featuring Lainey Wilson) 2 x platinum certified. Truck Bed is never off Country radio, oh, and he’s had his own number one in Jack.
The album opens like Hardy means it, with the title song ‘Quit!!', which was written on a napkin and put in his tip jar, in one of the early days. Hardy’s rocking vocals and heavy drum style could have easily overpowered a well-meaning honkytonk crowd. The song is raw and fast and honours an Eminem approach to lyricism.
The rock continues on the next track, and the addition of drums, on ‘Rockstar'. The anthemic chorus makes this one of the strongest songs in the set of thirteen.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers drummer Chad Smith joins Hardy on the drum-driving Good Girl Phase' which also has some killer guitar work.
The pace slows briefly, at least on the intro of the fourth track ‘I Don’t Miss' until bursting into a blisteringly rocking/raw chorus that has me wondering how much honey and lemon the singer goes through on tour.
‘Psycho' is less angry than it sounds, and is actually more of a beautiful, shared moment between Hardy and wife Caleigh as he sings about getting a face tattoo and making the six o’clock news if they ever broke up. In reality (Instagram) she asked him to consider his face in context of future children; a recent compromise has been reached. The energy comes from the story, showcasing Hardy’s non-raw vocals, a reward for wayward listeners who have made it this far. Keep going; the album gets better.
Newcomer Knox hangs out with Hardy on the fun bar-based break-up song ‘Happy Hour' and it’s good to see an artist offer opportunity on an album as well as hosting well-known inspirations and revered collaborators.
The source of Hardy’s latest tattoo, ‘Jim Bob' draws on Dre and Eminem energy to tell the not so happy story of the reality of every day for too large a population percentage. No work, too many pills and an overwhelming anger presented in the backdrop of perfectly chosen music.
We head to a slower-paced southern California on the acronym ‘WHYBMWL' (Where have you been my whole life) as Hardy shares the story of first meeting his now wife Caleigh when he was a home-based songwriter, until his own career shot off, along with sudden intense touring, with no time to process the effect that can have on a person.
In the latter part of the album, two songs stand out for me. Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst lends his vocals in a pinch-me moment for Hardy, a lifelong fan, on ‘Soul4Sale' an angel/devil conscience song with Durst voicing that of the angel. In an interview with Erin Vanderhoof for Vanity Fair (my respect rose even higher for Hardy when I learned he’d read one of my favourite books, Cohelo’s The Alchemist) Hardy was quick to reassure fans and family that he doesn’t really plan to sell his soul, citing influencer Johnny Cash as an artist who didn’t kill anyone for his own art.
And, following a bad accident, the gorgeous ballad ‘Six Feet Under (Cayleigh’s Song)' is a tribute to that what-if moment in a relationship, sung in a beautiful classic ‘90s punk-rock sound. Imagine hearing this sound for the first time?
Michael Hardy is as handy with raw-ing lyrics as he is performing a ballad. He’s definitely an artist whose live show I need to see; I can feel the energy now. What say you, for 2025, BST/Hyde Park?
Parental advisory: make sure you give this album to a parent in their 40s or 50s for the nostalgia kick it’ll provide. I wrote most of this review after the school run, sat in a chain coffee shop filled with the retired or nomadic workers hosting meetings, getting a kick out of Quit!! raging in my headphones.
Track List: 1. Quit!! 2. Rockstar 3. Good Girl Phase (feat. Chad Smith) 4. I Don’t Miss 5. Psycho 6. Happy Hour (feat. Knox) 7. Jim Bob 8. WHYBMWL 9. Time To Be Dead 10. Soul4Sale (feat. Fred Durst) 11. Live Forever 12. Orphan 13. Six Feet Under (Cayleigh’s Song) Label: Big Loud Records/Big Loud Rock Release Date: 12th July 2024
