By Dani Heyvaert (Originally in Dutch) and Translated by Dani Heyvaert.

Well, sometimes, Life has its surprises…I’ve been looking forward to attending Joe’s concert at Antwerp’s Crossroads for months and then, well then Life shows up and I simply can’t make it, because of well…family matters…

Anyway…there’s the new record: I played it over and over and over again, for more than 3 weeks now and, after some 30 spins, I guess I’m ready to say something about it. These 30 spins are no coincidence, because this CD is so beautiful in all it’s simplicity, it’s so convincing in all it’s nudity… 10 self written songs, in a production that was clearly meant to eliminate every lack of importance. The production was in the hands of Evan Brubaker, a guy we don’t know personally, but that’s only a matter of time and distance: this man understands the music he’s dealing with, that’s for sure: on this disc, you hardly hear more than Joe’s voice, a little violin; his guitar and some really sweet backing vocals. All this means the songs have to be really strong to stand out and keep the listener’s attention and yes…no doubt about it, this is the real thing: this is a CD that keeps your attention in all circumstances, whatever situation you’re listening to it. There’s only one condition to be fulfilled: you should be able to really listen. Then you’ll hear Iadanza’s delicious way of phrasing, his hard to imagine way of formulating and the CD’s overwhelming poetry.

When you hear Ghost Town, you wish Springsteen would cover it on his next Nebraska-album: in that way, half the world would get to know Iadanza-the-songwriter who’s a guy who deserves far more attention than he gets today. Start quoting the guy’s name alongside Cat Stevens’, Jim Croce’s or John Stewart’s and you’ll do yourself no harm. Above all of this, he’s his very self and I have to admit that remorse is reigning my life at this very moment: I should have been there, earlier tonight, in Antwerp. If I had been there, I would have gone nuts for verses like “I believe in the flowers within the seeds. They keep growing and won’t show their colors until they are free”. He who can write verses of this type of beauty, I guess we may call him a “very big one”, can’t we? Besides all of this: the packaging of the CD is almost as beautiful as the CD itself!

Original post of the Dutch review available at: http://www.rootsville.be/CD%20REVIEW%20TOTAL/CD%20REVIEWS%202010/JOE%20IADANZA.html