John Hiatt
Walk On

A couple of premises:

1. I am a novice in db;

2. I am a fan of John Hiatt.

Having said that, I will go ahead and extol this work by John Hiatt, in my opinion underrated by much of the critics, but, in my own opinion, among his most successful and inspired, along with the legendary "Bring The Family", "Perfectly Good Guitar", and the latest "Terms Of My Surrender". Walk On is perhaps Hiatt's most stylistically diverse album: it ranges from the mid-tempo rock of "Cry Love" (with the great David Immerglück on mandolin) to the devastating power pop of "Good As She Could Be" to the folk of "The River Knows Your Name" to the funky of "I can't Wait" (in a duet with the splendid Bonnie Raitt), to the pseudo-soundtrack experiments of "Wrote It Down And Burn It" and the sweet piano touches of "Friend Of Mine". But all the songs deserve a mention. Hiatt's warm and "soulful" voice is an added value to everything, and the crystal-clear production does the rest.

The album is quite long (14 songs plus a ghost track), but it doesn't have a dull moment or a song to discard. You can feel the true American singer-songwriter at the highest levels, with a command of musical genres and a personality with few equals. Perfect for a long solitary car trip. I've been listening to this album for nearly 20 years now, and it still hasn't worn on me, truly timeless music and great songs.