Mystic Pinball

Mystic Pinball
Studio album by
John Hiatt
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2012 (2012-09-25)
Recorded2012
StudioBen's Place (Nashville, Tennessee)
GenreRoots rock
Length45:54
LabelNew West
ProducerKevin Shirley
John Hiatt chronology
Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns
(2011) 		Mystic Pinball
(2012) 		Terms of My Surrender
(2014)

Mystic Pinball is the twenty-first solo studio album by American musician John Hiatt. It was released on September 25, 2012 via New West Records. Recording sessions took place at Ben's Studio in Nashville. Production was handled by Kevin Shirley. It features contributions from Doug Henthorn, Brandon Young, Doug Lancio, Russ Pahl, Patrick O'Hearn, Kenneth Blevins, Arlan Schierbaum and Ron Dziubla.

In the United States, the album peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard 200, No. 6 on the Americana/Folk Albums, No. 17 on the Top Rock Albums, No. 8 on the Independent Albums and No. 15 on the Tastemakers. It also reached No. 35 on the Sverigetopplistan, No. 41 on the Dutch Album Top 100, and No. 90 on the Swiss Hitparade.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Classic Rock[3]
PopMatters6/10[4]
Record Collector[5]
Uncut8/10[6]

Mystic Pinball was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 72, based on five reviews.[1]

Andrew Mueller of Uncut called the work "another assemblage of breezy balladry and snarling storytelling, delivered in the familiar Cookie Monster drawl".[6] AllMusic's Mark Deming wrote: "for a guy whose 40th year as a solo artist is appearing on the horizon, he's sounding as full of ideas and energy as a guy half his age, and Mystic Pinball confirms he's still delivering the goods in an impressive fashion".[2] In his mixed review for PopMatters, Matt Arado stated: "an album that offers familiar pleasures without stretching for new ones".[4]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by John Hiatt

No.TitleLength
1."We're Alright Now"4:22
2."Bite Marks"3:36
3."It All Comes Back Someday"3:38
4."Wood Chipper"4:36
5."My Business"3:06
6."I Just Don't Know What to Say"4:37
7."I Know How to Lose You"3:49
8."You're All the Reason I Need"3:47
9."One of Them Damn Days"2:46
10."No Wicked Grin"3:55
11."Give It Up"4:08
12."Blues Can't Even Find Me"3:34
Total length:45:54

Personnel

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  • John Hiatt – vocals, electric guitar (tracks: 1–3, 5, 8, 9), acoustic guitar (tracks: 4, 6–8, 10–12), organ (track 4), piano (track 6)
  • Doug Henthorn – backing vocals (tracks: 1–3, 8), harmony vocals (tracks: 7, 11)
  • Brandon Young – backing vocals (track 4)
  • Doug Lancio – electric guitar (tracks: 1–9, 11, 12), Hammertone twelve-string guitar (tracks: 7, 10), mandolin & dobro (track 12)
  • Russ Pahl – pedal steel guitar (track 11)
  • Patrick O'Hearn – bass (tracks: 1–9, 11, 12), fiddle (track 10)
  • Kenneth Blevins – drums, percussion (tracks: 1–9, 11, 12)
  • Arlan Schierbaum – piano (tracks: 3, 11), organ (track 3)
  • Ron Dziubla – saxophone
  • Kevin Shirley – recording, mixing, producer
  • Jared Kvitka – engineering
  • Leslie Richter – engineering
  • Pat Thrall – additional engineering
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • John Golden – additional mastering
  • Gina R. Binkley – design
  • Jack Spencer – photography
  • Gary Briggs – A&R

Charts

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Chart (2012) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[7] 75
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[8] 168
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9] 41
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[10] 35
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[11] 90
US Billboard 200[12] 39
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[13] 6
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[14] 17
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[15] 8
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[16] 15

References

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  1. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Mystic Pinball". Metacritic. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Deming, Mark. "Mystic Pinball – John Hiatt | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  3. ^ Hughes, Rob (November 7, 2012). "John Hiatt: Mystic Pinball". Classic Rock. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Arado, Matt (September 26, 2012). "John Hiatt: Mystic Pinball, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  5. ^ Staunton, Terry (October 7, 2012). "Mystic Pinball – Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Mueller, Andrew (November 2012). "Uncut". Uncut. p. 75. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  7. ^ "Ultratop.be – John Hiatt – Mystic Pinball" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  8. ^ "Ultratop.be – John Hiatt – SMystic Pinball" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  9. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – John Hiatt – SMystic Pinball" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  10. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – John Hiatt – SMystic Pinball". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  11. ^ "Swisscharts.com – John Hiatt – SMystic Pinball". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  12. ^ "John Hiatt Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  13. ^ "John Hiatt Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  14. ^ "John Hiatt Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  15. ^ "John Hiatt Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  16. ^ "John Hiatt Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
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