John Hiatt

Singer-songwriter John Hiatt's raspy voice and solid roots-rock sound isn't your typical cookie cutter sound. 

 I personally prefer his later work (post-1986), starting with the Slow Turning album, however I've developed this personal listening preference by listening to his eariler work on Riding with the King (1983) and Ya'll Caught (1989) and comparing those early works with several of his later albums.

 The way I see it, is Riding with the King is the album where John Hiatt came into his own strengths and stopped trying to be what he thought the labels and the market wanted - pop or new-wave.

Listening to Ya'll Caught gives you a glimpse of the early years and early albums, and demonstrates solid Hiatt songwriting, but doesn't seem to be genuine Hiatt performances.  Riding with the King has a few songs that feel like the young and eager-to-please Hiatt that seem typical for his 1974-1986 period, and also have several cuts that offer glimpses of the he-only-makes-good-music John Hiatt that has cranked out great albums since 1987.  His Budokan release also has a few cuts from his earlier work.

If you're new to Hiatt, I recommend start listening to his 1987-present work, and if you're curious about his earlier work, listen to Ya'll Caught and - it seems fairly representative.  You could also listen to Budokan and be mindful of the years the songs were written for perspective.

The shining example of a rockin' early song is the title track to Riding with The King, which Eric Clapton and B.B. King recorded together on an album of the same name.

Otherwise, I believe any later release (after 1986) would be good one.  I've listened to most of them.  And I rank them in a list below.

 If you disagree, leave me a blurb in the guestbook?  If you have a recommendation for a release of Hiatt's I haven't heard, blurb it too!