Customer Reviews

The Open Road

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unlike the previous two reviewers I didn't have any issues with static or other noise on my downloaded copy of the Open Road by John Hiatt. The sound quality isn't as crisp as on some of John's earlier outings from the "Slow Turning" era but I think the rugged sound of this album is intentional. Everything sounds okay to my ears. Hiatt recorded this album in his garage studio with his current touring band, guitarist Doug Lancio, bassist Patrick O' Hearn and drummer Kenneth Blevins. Lancio's stellar guitar playing deserves special notice.

John Hiatt has one of the meatiest song books of any American musician. John is in the rarified class of songwriters with Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt and John Prine who are prolific in the number of time tested songs of enduring quality they've given to the world. At the age of 57, John's voice is showing well earned signs of wear but those great songs keep on coming.

John Hiatt had his demons and his return to the land of the living is well documented on his middle period albums. Over the 20 years since, Hiatt has produced consistently good albums with suprisingly few falls from artistic grace. Hiatt's best songs are sublime and even his less inspired music qualifies to be somebody else's "great album." John's music will always be judged against the impossibly perfect standards he set for himself on "Bring the Family" (1987) and "Slow Turning" (1988) which were forerunners of the Americana, No-Depression (or whatever you want to call it) revival of roots music in the 90s. Hiatt had a big impact on the younger vanguard roots rock bands like Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown and the Blood Oranges.

With his current album Hiatt is well past his early wild years, and his middle period where he sang homage to his family life with his daughters Lilly and Georgia who are now adults. Lilly and Georgia Rae were poetic muses for some of Hiatt's best songs. On "The Open Road", John is in search of a personal legacy, his place in the world, and his roots. It's an introspective album about life on the road in the homeland he claims as his own. Hiatt's passion for life still burns like a blue flame. Hiatt writes on the song "Homeland":

I call this place my homeland and I claim this land I own
It belongs to another people, they possess it in their bones

There's a double edged statement about Hiatt's feeling of alienation in his homeland and it's also an acknowledgement that the Native Americans and even the early settlers who are bones in the boneyard share a common legacy of ownership of the land with the living. Like Woody Guthrie told us: "This land is your land" and no matter how many fences build are built, everyone is a short term tenant on this planet for the fleeting moment of a human life span.

There isn't as much wry humor on The Open Road but Hiatt's gift for turning a clever phrase is undiminished with the passage of years. The music is solid country music with a solid rock and roll backbeat. This may not John's best album but fans of Hiatt will love the familiar comfort of his exquisite songs and the haunting and organic quality this album. I think Mr. Hiatt still has quite a few more tricks up his sleeve and I don't think he's planning on spending his golden years sitting in a front porch rocking chair watching the world pass by.

SONGS OF NOTE: Homeland, What Kind of Man, The Open Road, Carry You Back Home

I tend to only write a review if I am annoyed by the lack of value in a product. This is not the case here. I put this CD into my car player and have been spinning it for two weeks(I have a 80 minute ride each day). It's a 6 disk player and every time another artist comes up I push the button to return to this disk. I have been a John Hiatt since ~1988-89 when I saw him on SNL with the Goners. His albums are certainly not of consistent great quality but they always are good. This CD stands out for me as one of his best since before Tiki Bar. Great songs, guitar, voice...what's not to love. He is an American classic and I hope he keeps cranking out his unique sound for many more years. One of your best John. Thanks once again man.

While The Open Road can really only be considered an average Hiatt album, I would still rather listen to average Hiatt over most other artists.

Hiatt was at his musical peak in the early-mid 90s, and while he has produced quite good to quite average albums over the past decade or so, he still is capable of writing some very solid songs.

At age 57, no long-time prolific artist/songwriter is creating their best stuff, nor is their voice as strong as it was when they were 20 years younger. Hiatt is no exception, but the fact that he is still around and still writing decent music after nearly 20 studio albums says something about his talent.

Hiatt's strength as an artist has never really been his studio work anyway. He is a storyteller who particularly shines in concert, in front of an audience, where his combination of narrative and folksy humor provides context to his music.

I look forward to seeing Hiatt live in concert yet again when he tours the US in support of this new album, and even though I believe only a handful of songs off of The Open Road are worthy of playing live, I am eager to hear the concert versions of the songs he does choose to play, as they always provide his fans a new/unique experience of the studio versions they listened to in the car on the way to the show.

Sometimes in these reviews I criticize artists for continuing to put out the same old stuff year after year with no variation. But with Mr Hiatt I can't do that. I can't conceive of him ever varying from this Americana thing he's been doing for decades now. (He was Americana before there was a named genre.) So on Open Road we get more of the same from John, that familiar mix of rockabilly, blues, C&W, and rock, all sung in his distinctive throaty vocal style. The backing band is in superb form throughout the album. Having said all of that, though, I enjoyed some parts of this album more than others. A weak song such as "Homeland" makes me think he's tired of the whole business, but then it's followed up by two pretty good tunes, "Wonder of Love" and "What Kind of Man." On occasion the great musicianship almost redeems a lesser song, as with the excellent guitar work on "Movin' On." Overall, though, this is a workmanlike but middling effort from Mr Hiatt.

By the way, I did not hear any hiss problems with the download.

I love John Hiatt, but this one sounded a mite tired - something that had also come across on his last one, Same Old Man. Still good stuff, but....well...the spark seems to have dimmed a bit. Whatever, it's still a quality ride though, but don't expect fireworks.

After hearing Open Road and absorbing it over the last 24 hrs it really has grown on me. Tracks like Open Road, Go Down Swinging, What Kind of Man, Moving On, Fireball Roberts and Carry You Back Home are pure Hiatt. His voice shows the age but he still knows how to write a good song,

"everything back there is burned and dead. Any love they made any words they said, nothing to do now but drop it and roll, into the lights of the Open Road..."

just leave you spellbound.

The Band is in great form, the guitar is just awesome on Always Moving On and Fireball Roberts in particular...

Buy this you wont be sorry...

John Hiatt is a marvel. It took him a long time to find his voice--at first he was seen as a growling guitar based Randy Newman, then an American Elvis Costello but in the mid-80's he was finally seen for who he is--a powerful, observant roots rocker with more than a touch of country in the mix the American...John Hiatt.

"The Open Road" focuses on leaving more than arriving (to paraphrase Hiatt himself) and the unusual people that often inhabit our world. In many respects "The Open Road" reminds me a bit of Hiatt's "Riding with The King" but with the perspective of an additional 25 years of experience. Whether it be about someone stealing his mom's morphine in "Like A Freight Train" or some of the other morally ambigious characters that inhabit Hiatt's songs here, John captures the essence of each man while each moment and observation rings true. Unlike some of his previous albums ("Bring the Family" for example), "The Open Road" focuses less on Hiatt's life and more on the lives of others. Certainly he's done it before and he's done it this well (consistently is a curse when it comes to brilliant, wry observations about human nature--it makes it less interesting for critics).

Rough and ready to rock the fact that Hiatt uses his touring band here is a big advantage--they read each other amazingly well with each guitar lick, drum beat, bass note or vocal rich with experience. Although John's voice is buried a bit more in the mix here (which only adds to the rough and ready texture), it doesn't have to compete with the sharp playing of his band; Hiatt's expressive vocals remain the centerpiece but is a bit more a part of the "sound" of the band.

The mastering here is pretty good for a contemporary album and Doug Sax brings out the rocky sound of the recording very well indeed.

Hiatt has been producing a series of outstanding albums in the last decade and "The Open Road" which features Hiatt's touring band is, perhaps, his most outstanding for this decade (which is particularly welcome after the nadir of the amusing but "little" more--"Little Head").

OTHER STRONG HIATT ALBUMS TO CONSIDER: Same Old ManBring the FamilyAnthologySlow TurningRiding With the KingMaster of DisasterLive at the Hiatt (Spkg)Walk on

Maybe not Hiatt at his absolute best, but certanly a good, almost great and solid album, full of what we have all come to expect from Hiatt over the years - great songwriting, typical Hiatt vocals (full of falsetto and with that whiny twang we have all come to love). His witty, introspective vocals - cleverly crafted to tell the story and to make you think - set the mood for each song, so you experience the anecdote or thought vicariously, yet feel like you are a part of it. John Hiatt remains one of America's somewhat unknown treasures. If hearing this album and Hiatt for the first time causes you to seek out more of his earlier works, many of which are true American classics, you will not be disappointed. Overall a very good, solid performance.

John Hiatt is one of the greatest exponents of homegrown americana.
He is unfortunately also an artist who has not received the accolades he deserves,nor the fanbase his music justifies.
He has managed over a substantial period of time to create some of the best songs one will ever hear,whether one is a fan of americana or not.
I regard his "bring the family" album as an all time great.
Whilst this cd is not in the same category,does it not lag that far behind either.
I can unreservedly recommend this cd,and find that with every listen there is a new gem discovered,a new joy.
The cd contains a number of standout tracks and hopefully,will enjpoy the acclaim it richly deserves.

Querido y estimado John, te escribo esto en los momentos posteriores al fallecimiento de mi padre. Que sepas que has hecho un disco "redondo", pleno de sentimiento e inspiración. Que sigas así por muchos años y a ver si hicieras el favor de venir de una puñetera vez a España, acompañado de tu espléndida banda. Intentamos verte yo,mi mujer y mi hija pequeña de 12 años, el día 27 de julio de 2008 en San Sebastián (Donostia), dentro del programa del festival de Jazz "Heineken" , pero no hubo manera. Suspendiste la gira europea de "Same Old Man" y nos quedamos con un palmo de narices. Espero que la próxima vez no nos falles. Saludos. Antonio (Leo del 13/08/1962).