This came out in 2005 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
If John Hiatt has made a forgettable album, I haven’t heard it. And I’ve heard all his albums. But even for Hiatt, Master of Disaster is a memorable affair.
For his 21st disc, the hickory-voiced singer-songwriter enlisted Memphis veteran Jim Dickinson to produce, drafted a backing band based around Dickinson’s kids Luther and Cody — aka the nucleus of North Mississippi Allstars — and holed up in the legendary Ardent Studios to record. With all that going for it, this 11-song outing was bound to be a sure-footed winner. Not to mention one of Hiatt’s finest-sounding discs in years (this supposedly is due to a new digital recording process that is far too complex and boring for me to care about).
But it is slightly odd that it’s not a more raucous affair. Aside from the chiming roots-rocker Love’s Not Where We Left It, most of the disc is a slow-burning, nostalgically dusky affair, with the Dickinsons reining in their rough ’n’ tumble approach to support Hiatt’s genial backporch charisma and folksy elegance. And that’s OK; the Allstars’ restrained and artful support adds a rich, earthy depth to the swampy Memphis soul of Find You At Last and the molasses slide-guitar blues of Ain’t Ever Goin’ Back (the solo on the latter is one of the disc’s high points). Still, it’s hard not to wish Hiatt had taken off the leash and let these big dogs run a little more. That might have made Master of Disaster more memorable than it already is.
