This CD, featuring an almost exclusively acoustic set of blues
\nby John Hiatt, is evocative, emotional, and utterly successful.
\nFrom the opening, road-trip strains of “Lincoln Town” to the
\nclosing of “Before I Go,” it is a set of music that inspires the
\nsoul and brings tears to the eyes.<\/p>\n
The aforementioned “Lincoln Town” feels like a tribute to a
\nplace of decadence, a weekender place for relaxation from worry.
\n“Crossing Muddy Waters” is restrained and emotional, about
\ndesertion and love and choices – Hiatt’s deftly navigated guitar
\nplays nice counterpoint to the words. The first truly melancholy
\ntrack, “What Do We Do Now” features the title as a mantra, a
\nquestion to a partner and to oneself; its honesty, raw and brutal,
\nis shocking – hopelessness is just barely countered by the subtle
\nindications of a yearning, a yearning for a return to simpler times
\nand simpler loves; when complicated issues were other people’s
\nproblems. “Only The Song Survives” is much more upbeat, a playful
\nstring of seemingly nonsensical, but wonderful verses. It feels
\nlike a song to sing in the rain, holding hands.<\/p>\n
“Lift Up Every Stone” is the first track to (prominently)
\nfeature electric guitar. It features stingingly distorted guitar,
\nwith Hiatt singing like he was angry, and a chorus that drills into
\nthe mind. Of particular fun is the stripped down vocals around two
\nand a half minutes in. “Take It Down” is another restrained, sad
\nsong. Much like “What Do We Do Now” it features a sad, simple
\nrefrain; but the background sounds are augmented by deeper voices
\nand instruments, which further reinforce the atmosphere. This song
\nis far more sad than “What Do We Do Now,” which is at least
\ntempered by hope. It also features a particularly evoking guitar
\nsolo, which I found to be one of the simplest, shortest, and best
\nsolos on the disc.<\/p>\n
Again, we’re given a fun and playful track following bleakness.
\n“Gone” is energetic and delightful, belying the subject of the
\nlyrics. “Take It Back” is fun but not outstanding; it’s a simple
\nsong, with simple lyrics, but not bad. The guitar licks toward the
\nend are interesting, as well. “Mr. Stanley” is the only track I
\nregularly skip. It’s long, drawn out, and I honestly don’t like the
\nway the voice sounds – it’s far too whiny, too mournful.<\/p>\n
“God’s Golden Eye” is rich and lush; far more so than most of
\nthe tracks on the album. That song and “Before I Go” complete the
\nalbum very nicely, bringing closure to some of the issues we felt
\nearlier on.<\/p>\n
With the close of the album, I always feel like starting it over
\nagain – it is wonderful, fulfilling. This is what music should be;
\nhonest and raw, without being depressing or elating. Just pure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":25832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5850],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37304","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-john-hiatt","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37304"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37304"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}