Search - John Hiatt :: Anthology

Fine Overview of Hiatt's changing style

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 09/16/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hip-O finally learned their lesson. After putting out a couple of collections without any of the input of the artist involved, they contacted John Hiatt and asked him what he thought. Overall, he was quite pleased. I have to say so am I. This isn't the definitive collection (we're still waiting for that) with the rarities, one off tracks and outtakes fans are waiting for. It is, however, quite an improvement on the previous two Greatest Hits collections. The sound quality is very good as are the graphics and booklet. The selections dig deeper than the usual list of singles and songs that received heavy radio play. For the new fan who wants a summary of Hiatt's career this is it. Does it skimp on the extras? Yes but I'm happy that somebody thought enough of Hiatt to finally put many of his best songs in a box set (albeit too short)format.It would be a wonderful world indeed if Hiatt (and other underappreciated performers) would get the 4 disc set his music really deserves. In an imperfect world this collection manages to redress some of that oversight."

Some are missing the point: this compilation is SUBLIME

Gilbert Mees | Belgium, Europe | 05/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm getting a bit annoyed after reading some rather negative or complaining reviews about this wonderful 2cd set. This is as good a John Hiatt compilation ANYONE is ever going to put together, period. Really good value for your money with 40 crisp remastered tracks and interesting booklet, I can't see how this could be bettered, in terms of song selecion also. I also bought the compilation cd "The best of John Hiatt" and that was a rather dissapointing affair, because John re-recorded some versions of superior original songs like the classic "Have a little faith in me",
also other compilations are too limited in scope (A&M years only etc.). So I'm glad I came across this great compilation. CD2 plays just perfectly, great great music. CD1 is a little more uneven but there are still plenty of highlights like Riding with the King and Lipstick Sunset.People complaining that there not getting a box set with rarities, outtakes, live versions, demos, etc. ARE TOTALLY MISSING THE POINT OF THIS COMPILATION I'M AFRAID. That is not the meaning of this collection. The goal here is to present a complete overview of Hiatt's carreer, the best songs in their
original versions. Comparable to Chuck Berry's "The Anthology",
Paul McCartney's "Wingspan", Pink Floyd's "Echoes" and BB Kings "Anthology". And as such it is perfect. Box sets: great but not for the casual listener. If you are already a big fan and have all of the original Hiatt albums you can pass this one
up but for the curious music fan this is the one and only compilation of Hiatt's best work up from 1974 until 2000.I wonder sometimes: artists like Hiatt, Willy Deville, Nick cave, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa etc. who are uniformly respected by the music press and a selected audience (and whom I love) are often criticized when a compilation of their best work is released to the general public. It seems than as if something exclusive has been taken away from the fans of artists like these, because you see them bashing good compilations like this one into the ground, claiming you HAVE to get the original albums. I totally disagree with that, just accept that there are a lot of music lovers who are interested in these artists (like me) but don't want to shelve out for 10+ albums or a 4cd box set to get a decent overview of an artists carreer. No compilation ever will be perfect, but this along with "Strictly Commercial"
(Frank Zappa), "Used Songs" (early Tom waits) and more prove that it is possible to present decent overviews of so-called album artists. Ride on John."

Deep dark truth: he's an album artist!

Blippo Blackset | running on radio silence | 08/25/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"John Hiatt's catalog has been put through the repackaging machine several times over the years, with some strange results... witness the not-quite-hits collection "Ones That Got Away", or the puzzling "Best of John Hiatt" (released on a label he'd only done one album for). This anthology tries to put things right by covering the whole shebang, but the reality is, Hiatt's work from the late 70's and early 80's is stylistically quite different from his better known, more recent work, and with the exception of Side Two of "Riding With the King", most of it doesn't measure up. So what's to be done? Well, you could start with 1987's "Bring the Family" and work your way forward, since everything he's done since then has been pretty terrific (except maybe "Little Head"). Or, if you really just want two killer discs, I would personally suggest the A&M Greatest Hits set and "Walk On"."