POP ALBUM REVIEW : A Perfectly Good Survivor : *** JOHN HIATT “Perfectly Good Guitar” <i> A&M; Records</i>
It’s not exactly Hiattpalooza--the sound is more redolent of ‘70s California folk-rock than ‘90s Seattle grunge. But the rediscovery of rock power makes for the most consistent and immediate album by this veteran troubadour since the moving, happy/sad confessionals of his 1988 “Bring the Family.”
As usual, Hiatt tends to indulge a little in excessive whimsy and romantic gallows humor, but at all times he zeros in on the paradox of love’s simultaneous, paradoxical power and fragility with the insight and eloquence that has always marked his best work. He fills his first-person tales (notably “Blue Telescope”) with complex emotions and his third-person character studies (“Angel”) with finely drawn details.
And he propels everything not just with rock guitars, but--listen up, you gloomy grungers--a sense of hope that can only come from someone who has been to the bottom and survived to find love and happiness.
Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
