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Sad Clowns & Hillbillies Image
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The 23rd full-length studio release for the singer-songwriter feature Carlene Carter (daughter of June Carter Cash) and a track with Martina McBride.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Apr 26, 2017
    84
    Sad Clowns & Hillbillies is a solid effort with as many peaks and valleys as southern Indiana.
  2. Uncut
    Apr 26, 2017
    80
    The standard violin-mandolin-accordian corduroy rusticity is shoved aside here and there with musical and emotional ferocity. [Jun 2017, p.34]
  3. Mojo
    Apr 26, 2017
    80
    It's on the Mellencamp/Carter duets Indigo Sunset and the tough, self-questioning What Kind Of Man Am I that it all shifts up a gear. [Jun 2017, p.93]
  4. Jun 23, 2017
    80
    Sad Clowns & Hillbillies is another sturdy set of bittersweet portraits viewed through melancholic eyes.
  5. 70
    Carlene Carter duets on five of the 13 songs, notably What Kind Of Man Am I (sung by Sheryl Crow in Ghost Brothers...) and the light-hearted Sugar Hill Mountain (from Ithaca), while elsewhere Mellencamp shines alone--particularly on Sad Clowns (where his voice and lyric hurtles into Tom Waits territory) and All Night Talk Radio.
  6. Apr 27, 2017
    70
    While Sad Clowns & Hillbillies is a bit of a mixed bag, it's better than all of his other records that bear that mark (Dance Naked, Whenever We Wanted, Rough Harvest, et. al). It puts all his strengths--excellent original songs, unforced arrangements, and (mostly) inspired performances--on full display.
  7. Apr 27, 2017
    60
    An album that is not particularly consistent in sound or even sentiment--the worthiness of Easy Target is matched with half-of-the-title track Sad Clowns, a patronising and crankily retro missive on chivalry.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of
  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of