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All of a Sudden

John Hiatt - All of a Sudden Audio CD

A fair review of the John Hiatt "All of a Sudden" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all John Hiatt reviews here, or go back to the John Hiatt tabs.

Band: John Hiatt
Title: All of a Sudden
Rating:

Release Date: 1997-10-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: I Look for Love 2: This Secret Life 3: Overnight Story 4: Forever Yours 5: Some Fun Now 6: Walking Dead 7: I Could Use an Angel 8: Getting Excited 9: Doll Hospital 10: Something Happens 11: Marianne 12: My Edge of the Razor

A massively underrated album.
I have my reasons, one of the main ones being that I think this was the first album where Hiatt found his voice as a singer. As much as this record gets slagged by fans of John Hiatt, I hold my ground on gracing it with a five star rating. The two excellent albums prior to this ("Two Bit Monsters" and "Slug Line") were certainly nervy affairs, and that rough kind of vocal drew some of the "American Elvis Costello" comparisons.

If that was the case, then "All Of A Sudden" was Geffen records' attempt to unleash an Americanized "Armed Forces. " The wordplay was certainly as wickedly funny and acidically ironic as Costello's or Graham Parker's, and the CD bookends with a pair of stone classics in "I Look For Love" and "My Edge of the Razor. " The problem was, Elvis was up to "Imperial Bedroom" the year "All Of A Sudden" came out and Tony Visconti's "use every synth in the room" production didn't do much to enhance a stellar batch of songs. It did, however, bring out the rocker in Hiatt. With the exception of his latter work on A&M, Hiatt had never played this hard. More to the point, his singing suddenly took on a less affected quality. While it may have taken him another three albums to find his musical voice with "Bring The Family," it's my humble opinion that this was the album where Hiatt took his first major leap from songwriter to a performer, and the also commercially ignored follow-up, "Riding With The King," were the records that set up his crowning achievements.

Not for the "Roots Music" lovers out there, but good!
Of course, we started listening to John Hiatt with the release of this album (had heard the buzz about JH being the "American Elvis Costllo"). My husband and I have nearly all of John Hiatt's albums and this one ranks right up there. If you love EC's early sound (Trust, Get Happy!, Armed Forces), then you will like this collection of wacky, word-smithy songs. It also helps if you listen to this album with a "They Might Be Giants" sort of outlook toward the lyrics and a fond nostalgia for the production values of the '80's.

Everyone who is disappointed in this album because it isn't folksy enough or gritty enough for you needs to thank their lucky stars that JH is an artist who can GROW UP and EVOLVE, unlike so many STEVEN TYLERS out there! Listen to this one, and all others in succession someday, to see how this man has matured, while rarely making a mis-step along the way.

Uncharacteristic For Hiatt, But A Fine Album Nonetheless
It's true that this album is heavily produced, all the more striking in light of how spare many Hiatt albums are. I've read the other 4 reviews of "All Of A Sudden", and strangely enough I agree with them all, at least insofar as the text of the reviews is concerned, if not the star ratings. Hiatt is a quintessential singer/songwriter, but when this album came out he was definately coming from a different place. The uptempo new wave keyboard-heavy sound seems a bit dated now but it was great fun at the time. "My Edge of the Razor" still ranks as one of his finest songs. Fans of the more rockin' albums "Slugline" and "Two Bit Monsters" will probably enjoy this. Fans of the later, more laid-back folkish albums may want to pass this one by. But if your musical tastes include room for both styles, don't let the poor reviews deter you, this is indeed a fine album.

A Little Perspective, Please
Yet what gets criticized here as glossy overproduction actually shows how adaptable and vibrant Hiatt's songs are, surviving this worthy attempt at small-combo wall-of-sound. Why this album is uniquely reviled among John Hiatt titles reveals the narrow expectations Hiatt's new legion of fans developed after his acclaimed, folky-AOR twin-pack "Bring the Family" (87) and "Slow Turning" (88). (Hiatt had already survived his previous label's tag as an American Elvis Costello. ) His patented humor is fully intact on "Doll Hospital," his social observations acute on "The Walking Dead," his loner's perspective pungent on "Getting Excited" -- and that doesn't include the anthologized "I Look for Love" and "My Edge of the Razor. " What's unique about this Hiatt outing, though, is its ability to get you dancing, an assumed priority in the halcyon days of early '80s post-new wave. Yet, looking back now, no one could accuse Hiatt of jumping on that era's bandwagon (lesser artists did, and died trying). This was a genuine and solid contribution from a highly gifted emerging artist, revealing in retrospect yet another facet of his broad and immense talent. For Hiatt diehards, ALL OF A SUDDEN is a wonderful guilty pleasure. It's also cheap, at $6. 99.

SOME FUN NOW
The overall use of synthesizers is really swamping Hiatt's tunes. John Hiatt's first album for the Geffen-label, this recording suffers from some bad choices in production. I wish he could've sacked producer Tony Visconti, smashed up the keyboards and brought in some rough guitarplayers to record this album all over again. That, to me, would already have been a vast improvement. Sadly, though, I have to admit that Hiatt has written better tunes than he releases on this album. The second half of the album is really only second rate. This phase he's going through only really came to fruition on the "Riding with the king"-album. It's a pity I can't be more positive about a man who's one of my all-time favorites, but this album is just one of his weakest, even though some of the lyrics are in the almost traditionally brilliant Hiatt-vein. When Hiatt tries to be too smooth, it just doesn't become him. Better look elsewhere in his recorded catalog for the best Hiatt has to offer, this album is really only for completists.

You can see a complete list of all John Hiatt discography, or go back to the John Hiatt tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.