Joe Henry's Civilians

Last year gave us a ton of great albums, but it gave me three masterpieces that I'll be playing for years: Radiohead's In Rainbows, National's Boxer, and Joe Henry's Civilians. The first two have something to show for their work. Radiohead sold lots of albums, got the critics to kiss their asses again, and changed the way music can be sold. The National got critical acclaim, got some notice from opening for the Arcade Fire, and got to play David Letterman. Not too bad.

So why didn't Joe Henry get anything? I didn't see him on any of the critic's top ten lists. Some reviews were great, some were indifferent. His album was so unnoticed that Borders was the only store I could find that even carried it. And good luck finding any of his other records.

You can't ignore this album. This is rare album that I use the word timeless to describe: it could have come from the 60s, 70s, 80s.... it doesn't matter. The themes are modern (mostly anti-war songs), but they are so subtle that it could be from any time period. The first song describes a confused, disoriented General in a park drawing a battle plan on a napkin:

"Pray for you, pray for me! Sing it like a song! Life is short, but by the grace of God, the night is long!"

Who, besides Dylan or Waits, could write an anti-war song like that? Or this:

"Progress rides with thieves and whores, the stowaways of a civil war"

Why is this guy not worshiped as one of America's great songwriters? Listen to this album, and then buy Tiny Voices if you want more - and you will.