Customer Reviews

Slow Turning

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you want to explore John Hiatt -- and you should -- start here. If you're a fan without this CD, what in the world are you waiting for? It just doesn't get a whole lot better than this.

John Hiatt writes about real life. There are no sappy teenage love songs, but there is a great song, "Drive South," about two lovers with "heads in the clouds, just a little off-course" and one more chance to make it work.

"Trudy and Dave" aren't your average couple, but their descriptions (and the baby's) are laugh-out-loud funny. "Tennessee Plates" has a great, catchy guitar riff and an even better storyline: a lonely, desperate man; a female Elvis fan who's "been living in-between" and a car theft in Memphis.

"Georgia Rae" is a song about Hiatt's daughter and fits in well with everything else here. The title song is Hiatt's view of the world: unbowed, but realistic. "Is Anybody There?" will put chills down your spine with its mass choir effect and deep lyrics. "Feels Like Rain" paints a beautiful, languid picture of lovers in the Deep South and the music fits as perfectly as the lovers do.

If you like meaningful lyrics, melodies that linger in your head and you still don't have this CD, then you need to do something about it right now. You won't believe how great this is.

Slow turning generally gets less critical acclaim than Bring the Family.In my own opinion though, this is a far superior record: the bounce, enthusiasm and joy of the songs being driven along by a band that sounds as though it's having the time of its life and sung by a man who seems to have seen an extremely bright light at the end of a very dark tunnel put into the shade the more antiseptic sound of the previous record. Of his subsequent albums only Walk On consistently matches the high quality of this one.

I've been listening to this CD for over ten years and it stays fresh. John Hiatt has a talent for expressing insight on experiences and emotions seldom expressed in songwriting and this CD is one of his best examples. It runs a range of hard driving guitars and vocals to solo and soulful piano ballads. If you're not completely familiar with Hiatt's work and are looking for a CD that demonstrates his full range of talent, this is it.

I bought this cd for the incredible song that Emmylou Harris covered - 'Icy Blue Heart'. That song alone puts John Hiatt up there with the best singer songwriters. As a bonus I also got top tracks like: 'Drive South', 'Sometime Other Than Now', 'Ride Along', 'Slow Turning', 'Is Anybody There' & 'Feels Like Rain'. I also highly recommend the previous album: 'Bring The Family', for more gems like: 'Memphis In The Meantime', 'Lipstick Sunset' & 'Learning How To Love You'. The bonus on that album is you get Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner & Nick Lowe in the band, and you can't ask for more than that.

Slow Turning is the second of three landmark albums (Bring The Family and Stolen Moments being the others) that established John Hiatt as the pre-eminent singer-songwriter of the late 80's. Unfortunately, the wisdom of the material was mistaken by most of his new fans (and eventually Hiatt himself) as "fun" Adult Contemporary. At the time, however, this was a big step forward, personally and professionally, for Hiatt. Replacing his previous band of legends (Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner) with his touring band, The Goners, this is Hiatt's best sounding album to date. Sonny Landreth plays just about every guitar under the sun to perfection. Ken Blevins and David "Now" Ranson provide a perfect blues-rock rhythm-section.

John Hiatt has always been a top-notch author of acerbic wit. He shows major signs of growth here, however. Slow Turning exhibits a more mature, resigned and happy man. "Though love's not earned / Baby, it's our turn...," he sings on "Drive South." His comic flair has been perfected by the likes of the interstate dragnet search for a car with "Tennessee Plates," and the adventure of two irresponsible youths and their baby "...who shot up an automatic teller machine / Took the money for the laundry and drove away clean...".

Hiatt treads familiar territory with "Icy Blue Heart," "Ride Along" and "Paper Thin." The difference here is that his not-so-lovable losers finally seem to have turned a corner, looking inward for a first time. "...And if I knew love," he states in the first song, "Well, I don't think I'd be here / Askin' myself if I've got what it takes...".

"Slow Turning" is the best Hiatt song I have ever heard. It's theme is universal ("...Life is short and here's the damn thing about it / You're gonna die, gonna die for sure...") and comical ("...You think you've come so far / In this one horse town / And she's laughin' that crazy laugh / 'Cause you haven't left the parking lot..."). Like a spinning record, an image any music lover would, he describes the process of growing older and wiser by realizing your potential through knowing your limitations will not keep you from succeeding.

"...It's been a slow turnin' / From the inside out / A slow turnin' / But you come about..."

With this album, John Hiatt has come about.

I have over 500 albums/CDs (I realize there are people with thousands) and this is one of the five best that I own. It is unbelievably great.

"slow turning" is easily one of my favorite cds. the whole cd is great. it fits perfectly with shawn colvin's "fat city" and sarah mclachlan's "fumbling toward" as 90's records you can never tire of, whether you're driving, working, or relaxing. although my favorite song of his, the earlier "riding with the king", is not on this, i still give this cd the highest praise because there are no bad tracks. a rarity.

I had worn out a tape cassette of this album years ago. And after having the mopey new boy guitar strummers played by my teen son in the house just had to get another copy. Great band. Lyrics that make me laugh out loud. Songs that tell stories clearly fiction and true to real adult life situations. And did I say great band?

John Hiatt's 1988 release "Slow Turning" is a hands down classic. This was my introduction to John Hiatt after I heard the uptempo rocker "Paper Thin" on the local radio station. I soon discovered that this CD was one solid set of songs that were easy to listen to all the way thru. I just happen to listen to this great album the other day on my iPod while driving back from a worksite with a group of co-workers. It had been awhile since I listened to this classic, and towards the end I remembered just how good it is.

The album kicks off with a few up-beat songs featuring great acoustic and electric guitars. John's backing band is very tight, with good production. "Icy Blue Heart" slows things down to a crawl, but what a great country-tinged ballad it is, telling the story of a couple who meet in a bar. I hadn't heard John's previous album to this, Bring the Family (1987), until recently. Many consider it his best, but I prefer Slow Turning because it rocks just a little more. The great songs just keep coming at you, and the beautiful closer "Feels Like Rain" is one of my favorite slow songs. It brings back memories of when I lived in Louisiana near New Orleans. If you listen to the song, you'll understand. If your thinkning of trying out some his music, you can't go wrong with this one.

*****Highly RECOMMENDED*****

Just fantastic writing and performance!

I had never even heard of this guy before (let alone the stellar CD that proceeded this one) until one dark night driving a moving van from Montreal to Kingston, I caught an album release radio interview. It opened with "Paper Thin" and I could not believe how good it was, rivaling the Stones at their best in the 70's and eclipsing anything that Dylan ever crafted!

A must have CD. All the tracks are great and unlike anything else lurking around onthe radio waves.