Bring the Family

 (33 customer reviews)

There's a game called 'Desert Island Discs' where you get to nominate the 10 albums you would take if you were ever marooned on such an isle. This is one of mine. In ascending order of importance: the playing is absolutely tops - Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner is pretty much unbeatable as a rhythm section, and what band wouldn't want Ry Cooder on lead guitar? Even in this company, Hiatt proves he no slouch on the fret. Hiatt's voice took me a while to get used to, but it has a gritty soul about it that won me over. which brings me to what this album is about - soul. The heart that pulses with every beat from this album is astonishing. The story behind it is fairly well known - Hiatt had cleaned up after sinking into alcoholism, wrote some songs and went into a studio with these three other musos and knocked out 'Bring the Family' in a matter of days. And each song has a guts and soul to it borne of Hiatt's encounter with darkness and his return. Other reviewers have compared...Read more

One of the great musical tragedies of the last two decades is that if you mention the name "John Hiatt" to most people, all you'll get in response is a blank stare. Most people seem to have missed Hiatt, which is far beyond a shame, as he's one of the most talented songwriters of his generation.Bring the Family is an unadulterated masterpiece, no ifs, ands, buts, or other varied conjunctions about it. "Memphis in the Meantime" manages to have both humor and a great groove, "Thing Called Love" is a great song whether or not Bonnie Raitt is doing it, and if there's a person who doesn't choke up hearing "Have a Little Faith In Me" I wouldn't let children within a hundred feet of them. It's one of the most touching songs I can even imagine.Anyone not owning this one has a large hole in their musical collection. A hole that should be very quickly repaired.

I bought this album about 11-12 years ago and it still sounds as fresh today as it did back then. There are many reasons for the staying power of this album. First of all, the songwriting...Hiatt is quite simply one of the best there is. His lyrics are brilliant -- sort of a midwestern Elvis Costello -- and he fuses it with great melodies and hooks. Another great draw here is the musicianship. Forgoing past arrangments of synths and overblown instrumentation, Hiatt sticks to a four-piece band...and what a band it is. In addition to John himself on vocals and acoustic guitar, there's Ry Cooder on guitar, Nick Lowe on bass and session ace Jim Keltner on drums -- you can't go wrong there. The playing is steady, assured, and rocks like crazy. Highlights for me include "Memphis in the Meantime" (one of my favorite Hiatt songs, lyrically speaking), the rocking "Thank You Girl" and the touching "Lipstick Sunset," which contains the best singing I've...Read more