Henry IV of Germany 1056 1106

Major label release, a name producer, noted session men, this album couldn't lose, right? Well, not quite. Although time has caught up with Murder of Crows, sometimes Joe Henry gets lost amidst all the busy work and fancy arranging of his songs. True, there are some great songs here, notably "Six Feet in the Country," "Here and Gone" and "Step Across the Mountain" which will remind one a lot of Counting Crows. Here is a glimpse at a young songwriter being pushed too quickly to come up with the goods. Sometimes, the waiting is the hardest part…

This long-lost debut of Joe Henry is a mixed bag compared to his later material. Fans of "Trampoline" or "Fuse" may want to take a pass but if you enjoy "Murder of Crows" and "Shuffletown", then this one belongs in your collection. Some songs have that over-produced mid 80's sound (reminds me of the first Bruce Hornsby record)but the more "spare" stuff sounds pretty vital. At it's core, TOH is still Joe Henry with everything you'd expect…sharp lyrics, nice melodies, the cover song (although Mellencamp's cover of "Wild Night" is better), etc. One nice surprise is more singer and piano material then his later work. If your devotion to Joe includes his early stuff, add this to your delight. For those into his last two discs, don't dig back quite so far. Try "Short Man's" or "Shuffeltown" instead.