John Hiatt - Beneath This Gruff Exterior
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Music CD Cover
Artist: John HiattEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2003-05-06
Music Label: New West Records
Soundtracks:
- Uncommon Connection
- How Bad's The Coffee
- Nagging Dark
- My Baby Blue
- My Dog And Me
- Almost Fed Up With The Blues
- Circle Back
- Window On The World
- Missing Pieces
- Fly Back Home
- The Last Time
- The Most Unoriginal Sin
Free Music Notes for Beneath This Gruff Exterior
Free Music Review: John Hiatt rocks out
Hit: 4 Stars
You can usually trust John Hiatt not to make the same album twice in succession.
Following 2001's "The Tiki Bar is Open", which was dominated by swinging folk-rock shuffles, he put out the harder-edged "Beneath This Gruff Exterior" in 2003, a tough rock n' roll album which again sees Hiatt backed by The Goners, including slide guitarist Sonny Landreth.
The guitars are tuned up on "Exterior" - just listen to the down and dirty blues grind of "Almost Fed Up With The Blues" - and John Hiatt pushes his growling, throaty voice to the limit. There are couple of less memorable songs here, sure, but the vast majority of these 12 tracks are no less than excellent, partly due to the wonderful band.
Highlights include "My Window On The World", the aforementioned "Almost Fed Up With The Blues", the melodic, mid-tempo swagger of "My Baby Blue", and the stomping up-tempo rocker "The Nagging Dark". And a few more, actually; this album has really grown on me.
"Exterior" starts off rough and tough, but the second half of the album is slightly mellower, with more mid-tempo songs and even a ballad, the lovely "The Most Unorginal Sin". Hiatt's lyrics may be a bit more on the "let's just have fun"-side of things than on albums like "Bring the Family" of "Slow Turning", but if you know him you'll know that he never dumbs down too much.
The band is tight, and Sonny Landreth's characteristic gritty fills and liquid slide leads are everywhere; check out "Fly Back Home", "Circle Back" or "How Bad's The Coffee".
"Beneath This Gruff Exterior" is a really good album, filled with mostly great songs conceived by a great singer-songwriter and played by a top-notch band. 4 1/2 stars.
Beneath This Gruff Exterior Poster
Much to his credit, John Hiatt has never strayed very far from the bluesy garage rock roots of his Indiana childhood. That fact is raucously underscored here, a gritty collection that finds the veteran singer/songwriter co-crediting his longtime band, the Goners (guitarist Sonny Landreth, bassist Dave Ranson and Kenneth Blevins on drums) for the first time--and for good reason. While Hiatt's songwriting efforts are typically strong throughout, with gems like "Almost Fed Up With the Blues," "My Dog and Me," "My Baby Blue," and "The Most Unoriginal Sin" (originally recorded by Willie Nelson in `93) showcasing his tough wit and tender heart, this is decidedly a band effort from the rollicking first notes of "Uncommon Connection." Recorded live in the studio, Hiatt and the Goners evoke everything from chugging Sun Records' shuffles to swampy Delta blues, early Ry Cooder and the Band, all of it informed by the almost telepathic sense of interplay these musicians have developed over decades of touring. This is easily the most overtly rocking album of Hiatt's career, but one that hasn't sacrificed an ounce of soul for its joyous energy. --Jerry McCulley18th release to date from John Hiatt was recorded in just 8 days with guitarist Sonny Landreth, bassist Dave Ranson and drummer Kenneth Blevins. Digipak. New West. 2003.
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