Hank Williams Jr. has never been afraid to speak his mind, and he's taking on contemporary country with his new album, It's About Time.

The album's title track lampoons contemporary country, and true to form, Williams offers no apology for the lyrics. "Weird pop-country sound ... I didn't know any other way to put it," he tells Rolling Stone Country.

Elsewhere on the new album — his first under the auspices of a new deal with Nash Icon Records, whose goal is to bring older country artists with a broad legacy back into the commercial marketplace — he offers up a diversity of songs including "Dress Like an Icon" and "Just Call Me Hank," as well as a seven-minute bluesy gospel track titled "Wrapped Up, Tangled Up in Jesus (God's Got It)."

"I've got a bunch of platinum on the wall ... but this is the best one I've ever put together," he says. "This is a real special one, folks, believe me."

The country legend isn't just taking shots at the modern country system. "It's About Time" also includes wistful memories of his mother, Audrey.

"I'm talking about looking at my mother's drawings of stick men in Alabama sand banks. You don't make that stuff up. That's in that song, [as is] going down the Hank Williams Lost Highway. But certainly the song is not about nostalgia at all," he says. "I've been carrying it around in my briefcase. [Songs] have to birthed, you know?"

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