The Hard Road

The Hard Road is the fourth studio album by Australian hip hop group, Hilltop Hoods. The album was released on 6 April 2006 by Obese Records^[1] and peaked at number one on the Australia ARIA Albums Chart.^[2] The album contains the top 20 single, "Clown Prince". The album achieved Gold status (35,000 units) on 8 April 2006, a week after release and has now surpassed Platinum status (70,000 units). The album won the Triple J J Award in 2006. The award was announced on 1 December. Five songs from the album placed on the annual Triple J Hottest 100 chart announced on 26 January 2007. Songs "Recapturing the Vibe", "Stopping All Stations", "What a Great Night", "Clown Prince" and "The Hard Road" placed No. 77, No. 56, No. 41, No. 23, and No. 3 respectively. "An Audience with the Devil" samples the spoken parts (the interview between Suffa and the Devil) from the Millennium episode "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me".

Background

On 1 April 2006 Australian hip hop group, Hilltop Hoods, released their fourth album, The Hard Road, which peaked at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart.^[3] It was the first hip hop album by an Australian artist to do so. It was certified gold within a week of being released.^[4] Its lead single, "Clown Prince", reached the top 30 on the related ARIA Singles Chart.^[3] This featured guest verses from New York rapper, Omni, and British MCs, Mystro and Braintax.^[5] Hilltop Hoods received the inaugural Australian Independent Record (AIR) Award for Independent Artist of the Year and Best Performing Independent Album for The Hard Road in 2006.^[6] The track, "The Blue Blooded", is a collaboration with Australian MCs: Funkoars, Hau from Koolism, Mortar, Vents, Drapht, Muph & Plutonic, Pegz and Robby Balboa.^[5] On 27 April of the same year, Hilltop Hoods performed at the Bass in the Grass music festival in Darwin alongside fellow hip hop group, The Herd. That same day they issued a second single, the title track from the album. Its music video includes fellow members from the Certified Wise Crew – Cross Bred Mongrels, Terrafirma and Funkoars.

Following the success of The Hard Road Tour in early 2006, the Hilltop Hoods began their second national tour for the year, The Stopping All Stations Tour, which visited more regional areas of Australia as well as the capital cities. They were supported by Koolism and Mystro. Late that year, Hilltop Hoods released their third single from the album, "What a Great Night". The video shows the group at a club with camera shots panning up and down to reveal a new location. It used special effects and is one of the most expensive video clips for an Australian hip hop group, mirroring the group's rise in success and popularity. Also late in the year the band won the J Award for best album of the year from Triple J.^[7] They performed the Homebake Festival and Falls Festival before the end of the year. The Hard Road received the AIR Award for Best Independent Hip Hop/Urban Release in 2007.^[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[8]
Soul Dungeon	^[9]

Track listing

CD hidden track^[10]
No.	Title	Length
0.	"Ya Feel Big?"	3:45

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Recapturing the Vibe"	3:26
2.	"Clown Prince"	3:52
3.	"The Hard Road"	4:06
4.	"Stopping All Stations"	3:52
5.	"Conversations from a Speakeasy" (featuring Omni)	3:28
6.	"What a Great Intro"	0:24
7.	"What a Great Night"	3:07
8.	"City of Light"	3:40
9.	"Obese Lowlifes" (featuring Mystro and Braintax)	2:24
10.	"Circuit Breaker"	3:29
11.	"Breathe"	3:15
12.	"The Blue Blooded" (featuring The Blue Blooded Allstars)	4:47
13.	"Monsters Ball"	4:19
14.	"An Audience with the Devil"	4:06
15.	"The Captured Vibe" (featuring DJ Reflux)	2:12

Golden Era Records deluxe edition bonus track^[11]
No.	Title	Length
16.	"I Can't Take It"	4:00

Secret track and extra material

Video clip of the first single "Clown Prince" is available for viewing on the CD.
Untitled secret track ("Ya Feel Big?", which works only on some stereos) - to access this track, start on track 1, "Recapturing the Vibe", and scan backwards. The song is about Hilltop Hoods' rise to fame and the struggles they endured because of this rise.

Singles

"Clown Prince" (2006)
"The Hard Road" (2006)
"What a Great Night" (2006)
"Recapturing the Vibe" (2007)

Song credits

Due to the MCs Suffa and Pressure performing different verses and choruses of varying songs, the sections done by DJ Debris and the large number of guest artists featured on the album, what follows is an extensive list of song credits.

"Recapturing The Vibe" - 3:26
- Produced by Suffa
- Verse 1: Pressure
- Verse 2: Suffa
- Scratches by DJ Debris
"Clown Prince" - 3:52
- Produced by Debris
- Verse 1: Suffa
- Verse 2: Pressure & ct
- Verse 3: Suffa & Pressure
- Scratches by DJ Debris
- Contains samples of "Laying Pipe" by Pornosonic, "Excursions" by A Tribe Called Quest and "Things Done Changed" by Notorious B.I.G.
"The Hard Road" - 4:06
- Produced by Suffa
- Verse 1: Suffa
- Verse 2: Pressure
- Verse 3: Suffa
- Scratches by DJ Debris
- Contains a sample of "Out in the Woods" by Leon Russell
"Stopping All Stations" - 3:52
- Produced by Suffa
- Performed by Pressure
- Scratches by DJ Debris
- Contains samples of "Ego Trippin' (Part II)" by De La Soul and "1-800 Suicide" by Gravediggaz
"Conversations from a Speakeasy" featuring Omni - 3:28
- (M. Lambert/D. Smith/B. Francis/J. McDonald)
- Produced by Suffa
- Verse 1: Pressure
- Verse 2: Omni
- Verse 3: Suffa
- Scratches by DJ Debris
- Contains a sample of "You Gots to Chill" by EPMD
"What a Great Intro" - 0:24
"What a Great Night DNR" - 3:06
- Produced & performed by Suffa
- Scratches by DJ Debris
- Contains a sample of "For Pete's Sake" by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth
"City of Light" - 3:40
- Produced by Suffa
- Verse 1: Suffa
- Verse 2: Pressure
- Scratches by DJ Debris
- Bass guitar by Chris Lambert
- Electric guitar by Nick Lambert
"Obese Lowlifes" featuring Mystro and Braintax - 2:24
- (M. Lambert/D. Smith/B. Francis/K. Dafarmo/J. Christie)
- Produced by Suffa
- Verse 1: Mystro
- Verse 2: Pressure
- Verse 3: Braintax
- Verse 4: Suffa
- Scratches by DJ Debris
- Contains samples of "These Walls Don't Lie" by Promoe
"Circuit Breaker" 3:29
- (M. Lambert/D. Smith/B. Francis/D. Rankine)
- Produced by Trials
- Verse 1: Suffa
- Verse 2: Pressure
- Scratches by DJ Debris
- Contains samples of "Professor Booty" by Beastie Boys and "Buddy" by De La Soul
"Breathe" - 3:15
- Produced by Suffa
- Performed by Pressure
- Scratches by DJ Debris
- Bass Guitar by Chris Lambert
- Trumpet by Phil Ingram
- Contains a sample of "Unbelieveable" [sic] by Notorious B.I.G.
"The Blue Blooded" featuring Blue Blooded Allstars - 4:47
- (M. Lambert/D. Smith/B. Francis/R. Mortimer/D. Rankine/A. Baker/L. Latukefu/P. Ridge/J. Laroner/D. Young/T. Staff/R. Warren/M. Honson)
- Produced by Suffa
- Introduction: Trials
- Verse 1: Suffa
- Verse 2: Mortar
- Verse 3: Trials and Sesta
- Verse 4: Hau
- Verse 5: Drapht
- Verse 6: Vents
- Verse 7: Muphin and Pegz
- Verse 8: Robby Balboa
- Verse 9: Honz
- Verse 10: Pressure
"Monsters Ball" - 4:19
- (M. Lambert/D. Smith/B. Francis/A. Simmons)
- Produced by Simplex
- Verse 1: Suffa
- Verse 2: Pressure
"An Audience with the Devil" - 4:06
- (M. Lambert/D. Smith/B. Francis/D. Rankine)
- Produced by Trials
- Performed by Suffa
- Contains samples from an episode of Millennium entitled "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me"
"The Captured Vibe" featuring DJ Reflux - 2:12
- (M. Lambert/D. Smith/B. Francis/D. Yates)
- Produced by Suffa
- Scratches by DJ Reflux

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
2006	Australian ARIA Albums Chart	1

Preceded by Both Sides of the Gun by Ben Harper	Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album 10–16 April 2006	Succeeded by 10,000 Days by Tool

References

↑ dUSK (16 April 2006). "Hilltop Hoods The Hard Road". Sputnik Music. Sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
↑ Kathy McCabe (19 March 2012). "Hilltop Hoods first Australian act to debut at number one on ARIA album charts with Drinking From The Sun". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
1 2 Hung, Steffen. "Discography Hilltop Hoods". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 6 December 2012.
↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2006 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
1 2 The Hard Road (Media notes). Hilltop Hoods. Obese Records. 2006. OBR 042.
1 2 "Independent Music Awards – History". Independent Music Charts. Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR). Retrieved 8 December 2012.
↑ "The J Award 2006". Triple J. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
↑ Allmusic review
↑ Soul Dungeon review
↑ "Hilltop Hoods - The Hard Road". Discogs. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
↑ "Hilltop Hoods - The Hard Road". Discogs. Retrieved October 29, 2016.

External links

Hilltop Hoods

Suffa Pressure DJ Debris DJ Next MC Summit

Studio albums	A Matter of Time (1999) Left Foot, Right Foot (2001) The Calling (2003) The Hard Road (2006) State of the Art (2009) Drinking from the Sun (2012) Walking Under Stars (2014)

Remix albums	The Hard Road: Restrung (2007) The Good Life In the Sun (2012) The Cold Night Sky (2015) Drinking from the Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung (2016)

EPs	Back Once Again (1997)

Singles	"Testimonial Year" "Dumb Enough" "The Nosebleed Section" "Clown Prince" "The Hard Road" "What a Great Night" "Recapturing the Vibe" "Recapturing the Vibe Restrung" "Chase That Feeling" "Still Standing" "The Light You Burned" "I Love It" "Speaking in Tongues" "Shredding the Balloon" "Rattling the Keys to the Kingdom" "Won't Let You Down" "Pyramid Building" "Cosby Sweater"

DVDs	The Calling Live (2005) The City of Light (2007) Parade of the Dead (2010)

Mixtapes (with Golden Era Records Crew)	Golden Era Mixtape 2011 (2011) Golden Era Mixtape 2012 (2012) Golden Era Mixtape 2013 (2013) Golden Era Mixtape 2014 (2014) Golden Era Mixtape 2015 (2015)

Obese Records

Key people	Tirren "Pegz" Staaf (owner)

Related	Plutonic Lab Zenith Records Golden Era Records

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