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Product Description
Rowdy 2010 studio album! Sizzling garage-rock 'n' widescreen blues-roots from the iconic American songsmith.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Having followed John Hiatt's career since the early days of 'Slug Line' & bought all bar a few of the many subsequent albums, this one surprised me more than I anticipated. Like others, I have found his recent efforts dominated by one or two standout tracks, but what takes me aback here is that this is not quite the case on this record. It's not that there are no highlights to speak of, on the contrary: The Open Road is full of highlights to my ears & ranks as among his very best- up there with the likes of Bring The Family, Slow Turning & Perfectly Good Guitar. The musicianship is top class & John is not only in fine voice but has assembled one of the most compelling collections of original songs of his career. The important word there is 'collection', for these compositions are linked by interweaving narrative themes. It seems he has deliberately presented them so that they tell a story of sorts. The starter 'Open Road', for instance, tells of a lady taking to the open road in her car 'locked doin' '75' & leaving her partner behind in a quest for new hopes. This song is followed by another called 'Haulin' about a male driver doing much the same, making his way from Fort Smith to Louisville with his mind set on bedding the lady he's headed towards. These two tracks pave the way for a sequence of quality songs exploring these motivations before we arrive at the album's centrepiece, 'Homeland'. This is a major song concerning an emotional awakening in which the narrator is startled to be recognising the meaning of 'home' through his sympathetic recognition of other peoples. From hereon until the end we have five tracks of redemption from narrators who have woken up to love having previously screwed it up.... Read more ›
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a rockin' album that reminded me of Perfectly Good Guitar at times, but also of Bring the Family.
I've got used to only really liking about half the tracks of John's recent albums. Well, liking them enough to put them on my iPod anyway. The Open Road is no different in this respect, but none of the tracks are bad. Some are just a bit too heavy for me.
The title track is a fairly generic JH song that I found a little dull. The second track has a good bass line but is a bit long. For me the album doesn't really get going until Like a Freight Train, which is probably my favourite track. This is a very sparse bluesy track that's John Hiatt at his best. As always, the lyrics are just great (he never has let us down in this respect) and it amazes me he continues to come up with fresh phrases after all these years. Some of his lyrics still take you by surprise.
I like most of the other songs well enough. The ones going on my iPod are 'My Baby' (terrific lyrics on this especially), Homeland, Wonder of Love, and Movin' On. Movin' On deserves mention as a classic example of why JH is such a great songwriter.
Others have mentioned that the production on the album isn't great and it isn't. Having said that, if you put it on a good hi-fi and crank up the volume you can kind of see why it sounds the way it does. And it sounds fine, oddly enough, through phones on my iPod. Still, would it have done any harm to record this to at least the standard of his albums from the eighties? Perhaps it's down to money. What I can't excuse is the horrible crackling distortion on track three that renders it impossible to listen to. A bad pressing perhaps?
Well, one day John Hiatt will stop giving us this annual gift and we'll be sorry.... Read more ›
I've got used to only really liking about half the tracks of John's recent albums. Well, liking them enough to put them on my iPod anyway. The Open Road is no different in this respect, but none of the tracks are bad. Some are just a bit too heavy for me.
The title track is a fairly generic JH song that I found a little dull. The second track has a good bass line but is a bit long. For me the album doesn't really get going until Like a Freight Train, which is probably my favourite track. This is a very sparse bluesy track that's John Hiatt at his best. As always, the lyrics are just great (he never has let us down in this respect) and it amazes me he continues to come up with fresh phrases after all these years. Some of his lyrics still take you by surprise.
I like most of the other songs well enough. The ones going on my iPod are 'My Baby' (terrific lyrics on this especially), Homeland, Wonder of Love, and Movin' On. Movin' On deserves mention as a classic example of why JH is such a great songwriter.
Others have mentioned that the production on the album isn't great and it isn't. Having said that, if you put it on a good hi-fi and crank up the volume you can kind of see why it sounds the way it does. And it sounds fine, oddly enough, through phones on my iPod. Still, would it have done any harm to record this to at least the standard of his albums from the eighties? Perhaps it's down to money. What I can't excuse is the horrible crackling distortion on track three that renders it impossible to listen to. A bad pressing perhaps?
Well, one day John Hiatt will stop giving us this annual gift and we'll be sorry.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Longman
Format:Audio CD
I'm 54 and have been a John Hiatt follower for as long as I can remember. I now buy his stuff without first hearing it and usually I'm blown away. This took me a couple of times before it hit the spot, but now ..... It's typical Hiatt ! Favourites have to be Homeland and Fireball Roberts, but when he winds up that distinctive voice of his it doesn't matter which track it is - it's the business ! This is a great mix of songs and some tight guitars behind his superb lyrics. Bring on the next one, John !
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By F. M. Muse
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD
This is not an outing that takes one by storm: on first listening there are maybe three or four tracks that stand out, and it's in the nature of these things that what works for you may be different for me. This is one of those albums that grows on me with pretty much every listening, always the hallmark of good material in my experience. When I say that some of the songs put me in mind of late Dylan - "Time Out of Mind", Modern Times" - it isn't a criticism, rather, it's a measure of how good a writer Hiatt is. I'm not qualified to comment on the production issues, instead it's the quality of both the writing, Hiatts delivery and the band's support that make this such a fine record. Is this perhaps more autobiographical than his previous work? Certainly he's at that age when one can look back and remember, some you won, some you lost; for me there is overall, a certain elegiac quality about this album, that many of us can relate to - and that's part of it's strength too.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Julian Wilde
Format:Audio CD
I only write reviews for books or CDs that I love or loathe. And this one I love. If you were disppointed by John Hiatt's last cosy little offering "Same Old Man"(happiness in personal relationships unfortunately doesn't aLways make for great music) then you'll be glad to know the rusty, cantankerous, yet affectionate and humourous gravel gargling singer/songwrite is back on form. He's obviously spent his spare time listening to Dylan, Neil Young, the blues and even a sea shanty or two and has married these influences with his own intoxicating brand of old testament apocolyptica and small town americana. It's a much more electric album than before - it grates and twangs like a prarie fence and although the voice isn't what it used to be at least he's stretching and squeezing it more than on the "Same Old Man" album. There honestly isn't a bad track on the whole CD. Welcome back Mr Hiatt, it's damn good to hear you again.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than ever
5 stars seems a little high, but 'I like it' is not enough...it's worth at least four and a half.
I think, surprisingly, this is the best album yet, with good tracks one after... Read more
I think, surprisingly, this is the best album yet, with good tracks one after... Read more
Published on 2 April 2011 by Mr Eclectic
4.0 out of 5 stars
The road to the future
Having been a long time fan of John Hiatt I am biased but have to admit this is not his best album. But it does point to the future, and a promising one, and the songs are on an... Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2010 by Lennart Kirchheiner
4.0 out of 5 stars
Much Better Effort
After many years of mediocre albums John Hiatt has produced an album which may not quite be a return to his best but is certainly a really good attempt to recapture his past... Read more
Published on 31 Oct 2010 by I. Hampton
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Album of the Year
It's my favourite root album of the year.
It contains songs that'll be hits in Hiatt's career.
It contains songs that'll be hits in Hiatt's career.
Published on 26 Sep 2010 by Miguel Angel
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent latest album from the great man of rock
I am relatively new to John Hiatt, I always knew his name but got into his music seriously just a few months ago. Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2010 by Ramses
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite the highest Hiatt, but back on the right road
Few, I suspect, would argue with the proposition that the real golden era of John Hiatt's career to date was his time on A&M in the mid-to-late 1980s which produced such... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2010 by Leonardo27
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't compete with the previous reviewer so...
Please read the other review by jayhikks for a full evocation of what this album is about. Suffice to say I love it. Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2010 by Big Jim
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