Customer Reviews

John Hiatt - Greatest Hits: The A&M Years '87-'94

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If the song list on Greatest Hits looks familiar to longtime John Hiatt fans, it's because it virtually duplicates his 1994 live album. However, this studio best of is the better representation of this gifted singer-songwriter than the less polished arrangements found on Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan? Culled mostly from his four studio albums for A&M--Bring the Family, Slow Turning, Stolen Moments and Perfectly Good Guitar--this collection brings together on one disc most of his finest moments.

To the general public Hiatt may be known primarily as a songwriter, since many of these songs have been covered by other artists: "Thing Called Love" (Bonnie Raitt), "Through Your Hands" (David Crosby), "Feels Like Rain" (Maria Muldaur, Aaron Neville), "Tennessee Plates" (Mark Collie), "Rest of the Dream" (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), "Have a Little Faith in Me" (Joe Cocker, Delbert McClinton) and "Angel Eyes" (Jeff Healey). But those cover versions have nothing on Hiatt's own. Even Hiatt's live version of "Angel Eyes" provides a heartfelt interpretation.

In addition to being an excellent songwriter, he is a more than proficent guitar player and posseses one of the most distinctive voices in popular music. Standout tracks include everything from Bring the Family ("Memphis in the Meantime," "Thing Called Love," Thank You Girl," et. al.) where he was backed by drummer extaordinaire Jim Keltner along with bassist Nick Lowe and Ry Cooder on guitar.

While each of the four studio albums that this CD draws from would be a welcome addition to any John Hiatt fan's collection, this is an excellent place to start. But be forewarned: You will eventually want to buy the entire albums. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I normally let hype scare me. When people rave on about songwriters like Hiatt I tend to get a little worried. If you are in my camp on this, let me assure you that John Hiatt is the real thing. This compilation is of course a mere sampler of the work Hiatt has done but again they are songs with sound and substance. Hiatt writes your wonderful ballad about ache and loss, those ridiculous decisions we make(Lipstick Sunset),and these are certainly heart on the sleeve renderings of the human condition. What puts John Hiatt in a class by himself is probably what takes him away from the amazingly popular gold record realm, and that is that he writes about love gone right, not just love but marital love, with kids. Hiatt puts down a welcome mat to a world of babies, wives, former ghosts and abuses, and is never afraid to expose himself on his journey flavored with folk, country, blues, and stadium rock. Finally, I would suggest if you have never heard John Hiatt, pull up a chair and listen to the lyrics, full of humor(rhyming ameoba and queen of sheba) and lovely images (the aforementioned Lpstick Sunset). A warning to you, these are songs that appeal to the humanity in our journeys. Some rock pretty well(Hiatt really rocks in concert by the way), but they are about things, about our lives as human beings...trying to love and exist in a beautiful and flawed world.... (and I suggest you listen to my favorite... Buffalo River Home...to get a sense of my taste.) I don't think you'll be sorry.

That is too say, my interest in music. I've always enjoyed many different genres of music but about 5 yrs. ago everything was sounding old or re-hashed to me. For some reason I ended up with a John Hiatt CD(Perfectly Good Guitar). It sounded new and exciting to me. After picking up all his other post 1986 creations , I was certain I had stumbled upon a unique and intelligent artist. Anyone who loves great rock & roll music with even better lyrics should enjoy this compilation CD. This is a great mix of his work.

John Hiatt has always been a maddeningly inconsistent songwriter. He was once tagged with the "Next Dylan" label and had a disappointing career until his "Bring the Family" album in 1987. Starting with that record, he released a run of laid back country-rock albums including "Slow Turning," "Stolen Moments" and "Perfectly Good Guitar" that marked the high point of his career both commercially and artistically. The "A&M Years" collects the best songs from this period all on one disc. The best of the best include "Slow Turning," "Thing Called Love" (later covered by Bonnie Raitt) "Real Fine Love," "Drive South" and "Child of the Wild Blue Yonder." Hiatt is a good singer, a decent songwriter and a fair storyteller. His style is reminiscent of a more country-ish and less arrogant (fellow Hoosier) John Cougar Mellencamp. This collection is the perfect set of his songs for the casual fan.

Like most Hiatt fans, I was disappointed with Capitol's compliation album. Don't get wrong: I love Riding with the King and The Way We Make a Broken Heart, but I wish that John wouldn't have remade Have a Little Faith in Me and Drive South and would have subsituted the new tracks for classics like Lipstick Sunset, Real Fine Love, and Something Wild. I'm glad that A & M had enough sense to release their own compilation to provide the aformentioned tracks.

This compilation, which draws from some of Hiatt's best albums, is filled with excellent songs, and it works very well as an introduction to one of America's best songwriters. But it is a shame that A&M didn't had access to Hiatt's earlier material, especially from one of his strongest albums, 1983's "Riding With The King".

But the rights to that one belong to Geffen Records, and so do two of Hiatt's other pre-1987 albums (his earliest output is split between MCA, Epic and Universal). So this isn't a definitive Hiatt compilation (the double-disc "Anthology" comes much closer), but the songs that are here are superb: "Buffalo River Home", "Slow Turning", "Perfectly Good Guitar", "Thank You Girl", "Lipstick Sunset", "Child Of The Wild, Blue Yonder"...tough, groovy rock n' roll, folkish shuffles, and exquisite ballads coupled with mature, insightful lyrics.

When John Hiatt released "Bring The Family" in 1987, it was the culmination of decades of laboring in relative obscurity. He'd already been on and off three other record company rosters and had some great work disappear into the "Critical Darling" dustbin. But with Bonnie Raitt picking "Thing Called Love" and the near Joe Cocker emotional force of "Have A Little Faith In Me," Hiatt was suddenly in a commercially viable mode that also included some fabulous work.

"The A&M Years '87 - '94" is a fat free 18 song compilation from Hiatt's most consistent period and covers four studio albums and a live contract buster. He'd overcome personal problems that may have been clouding his focus, and that gave him the chance to experience life ("Real Fine Love" and the classic "Buffalo River Home"), love ("Lipstick Sunset" and "Child Of The Wild Blue Yonder") and the sheer joy of rocking out ("Tennessee Plates" and "Perfectly Good Guitar"). It's also likely that you'll recognize a few of the songs from their hit covers by The Nitty Grtty Dirt Band, Suzy Boguss, Aaron Neville and Raitt.

While I find it hard to recommend this set over any of the original albums -- especially "Bring The Family" -- there's no reason that you shouldn't have a little John Hiatt in your collection. Since this was the period when Hiatt was in his strongest and most consistent mode, "The A&M Years" is a perfect place to start. For the more adventurous, I'd recommend the Hip-o label's "Anthology," which covers all of John's material up to "Crossing Muddy Waters" and has a better set of liner notes.

JOHN HIATT-GREATEST HITS: The title is a misnomer of sorts, since the only real "hits" this Hoosier minstrel ever had are those he wrote for other artists, including Bonnie Raitt's and Jeff Healey's breakthroughs THING CALLED LOVE and ANGEL EYES (heard here in their sandpapery original versions), and B.B. King's comeback RIDIN' WITH THE KING. Hiatt's talents are divided between his ragged-but-righteous howl of a voice, and his uncanny ability to pen insightful songs in all roots rock genres, including folk, blues, and country. His eventual breakthrough, on undisputed classic albums BRING THE FAMILY and SLOW TURNING, hipped us common folk to what music royalty has known for ages...Hiatt is the "go to guy" for quality material. Just ask Three Dog Night, Rosanne Cash, Jewel, or any number of admirers who've scored with his stuff. Incidentally, PERFECTLY GOOD GUITAR, his gritty ditty about axe-smashin' rock stars, and the intoxicating SLOW TURNING, are clearly BEGGING for cool covers by a few quality-hungry acts out there. Fans of Elvis Costello and Graham Parker's wry wordplay would do well to check out this rollicking retrospective and immediately work their way through John Hiatt's huge catalogue of high-falutin' work.

RATING: FIVE TONGUES IN CHEEK

This compilation was released shortly after Capitol's "The Best Of" (1998). In 2001, the HIP-O label released a 2-disc "Anthology"

Only four tracks on this disc do not appear on the Capitol & HIP-O sets:

6. Through Your Hands
15. The Rest Of The Dream
17. Something Wild
18. Angel Eyes (live from the "Budokan" album)

The audio on the Capitol & HIP-O sets is superior to the mastering on this disc. If you are looking for the best sound, skip this disc and consider the other sets.

I have posted a detailed review on the Capitol disc which details the differences between that disc and this one: The Best Of John Hiatt

I love this album and I especially -love- "Have a Little Faith in Me". I had been searching for it for forever after seeing Benny and Joon and when I saw this cd, I knew I had to have it. Wait'a'go, John Hiatt, for some of the most romantic music around! ^^